Trial and Error
by Blacktipped Angelwings
Summary: After waking from a coma Alex is shipped off to America to help NCIS solve a case- A scorpia case. Soon Alex becomes Scorpia's main target. What will alex do when lives hang in the balance? How will Alex and NCIS handle this situation?
1. Prologue

_Prologue._

Alex was having a really bad day. First he'd been late to school because the chain on his bike had snapped. Then a group of kids had decided to attack him at lunch which ended with Alex getting a black eye and a sprained ankle, all because he hadn't wanted to hurt his assailants. Now he was being told he had to go to an assembly about personal safety. Oh the irony.

Every year Alex had been at Brookland they had one of these assemblies, always with a different group of people. Last year was the SAS courtesy of MI6, not that the school knew that. The years before had been the police, the fire station, and a famous martial artist and others that Alex couldn't remember anymore.

He walked into the assembly hall with Tom, his only friend left at the large school. He expected to see the guest speakers waiting in the chairs that were normally set up for them. Instead he only saw the principal and the vice-principal sitting up there.

Alex felt jumpy. Something was definitely off. He wasn't sure why but he was willing to bet it wasn't going to have a happy ending.

Sure enough as the last students found seats the doors were closed and blocked by two large men. Alex grabbed his emergency phone and texted MI6, "Something's wrong at school. Not sure what. Standby. Backup may be requested."

That done Alex handed the phone to Tom, "If anything happens hit send three times. Then send a text to 'Joe' and tell them the situation."

Tom looked worried. He whispered, "What's going on?"

"Maybe nothing but it may be an attack," Alex whispered back. "See those men? They're guarding the doors to keep us_ in_, not other people out, which is why I doubt this is a 'personal safety assembly'."

Suddenly thirty men came out armed with semi-automatic pistols and lined up against the walls and three men stood in the center of the stage. Alex paled and turned to Tom, "Tell them I'm probably about to die. Tell them enemy Three."

All the other students were whispering about all the guns excitedly, Most of them thought this meant that the three men were famous and rich and this was his security team. Alex knew better. It was Scorpia and they were here to ensure Alex didn't' see tomorrow (**AN: sorry for the absurdly corny line)**.

The Chinese man stepped up to the microphone, "As you all know this is a personal safety course. I'm going to show you who you need safety from. First, I need a volunteer." He paused. "How about Mr. Rider?"

Alex felt his stomach drop. He didn't move. The Chinese man drew his gun and slowly pointed into the sea of students. Alex stood up sharply.

"Okay! I'm coming."

One of the teachers called out in terror, "Don't hurt him!"

"Shut up Ms. Bedeshire," Alex ordered forcefully.

"Thank you for volunteering," the man smirked as Alex walked towards him.

One of the kids near the front broke the stunned silence," What are you playing at Rider? Why did you involve us in your gang fight?" Alex would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so terrified."

The Chinese man chuckled, "A gang huh? Well at least it wasn't drugs. _That_ would have been hilarious. The great Alex Rider being called a drug addict. I would kill to see that."

"You're a contract killer, Dr. Three," Alex growled. "How's your leg?"

Dr. Three just smiled and turned his gun on the still approaching teen. He fired twice and Alex screamed, as did much of the student body. Three had shot Alex once in the shoulder and once in his thigh. The teachers and Tom all shouted for them to stop, but quickly shut up when a gun pointed at each of them.

Three nodded to the men on either side of him who went and grabbed Alex. Alex screamed again as one of them yanked on his injured shoulder.

"Not so tough now, Rider," Three whispered in his ear. "Before I kill you, we're going to play a game." He turned to his men, "Tie him up."

Alex felt dizzy as he was dragged over to a chair and bound. He was losing a lot of blood very quickly, but he was surprisingly unperturbed by this. He was far more concerned with what came next. Dr. Three was the world's expert on torture. Whatever game Three wanted to play would not end well.

The other students were hysterical at this point. Alex felt his world crashing around him. He did _not_ want these innocent bystanders to see him tortured. He hoped MI6 were on their way.

"Silence," Three ordered. Silence fell immediately. "Good. Game time, Alex. Let's start with your dad and your uncle, shall we? Who did they work for?"

Alex glared at the man, "A bank."

"Wrong answer," Three said happily. He brought out a knife and cut off Alex's shirt revealing the hundreds of scars that littered his chest.

"One more chance Alex or this is going to hurt."

Alex said nothing and Three walked away and grabbed something from a duffle bag. It was a metal baseball bat. Three smiled nastily, "It wont make you bleed as much as the knife. He took the baseball bat and swung it at Alex's chest with bone-breaking force. Alex cried out again, this time gasping for air. "Who did John and Ian Rider work for?"

Still gasping for air Alex decided the two dead men weren't worth his silence, "MI6! They worked for MI6, alright! Why can't you just kill me?"

"How did you get recruited?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex said stubbornly. This was one point Alex was not willing to share with his schoolmates. He knew it was useless to try and resist Three though. As the bat swung again Alex decided to just answer the questions. "When Ian died MI6 blackmailed me into finishing his mission. I was stupid enough to give into it."

"Next question," Three said. "How many missions have you done for MI6."

Alex didn't see how that question could hurt anyone but him but decided to piss off Three, "That depends. Do missions I took on without MI6 count?" He knew he should have kept his mouth shut as Three swung the bat again. Alex knew better than to bait the man much more. Plus, the world seemed to be fading in and out of focus, making cohesive conversation difficult.

Three glared at him, "Yes, they do."

"Well seventeen I think. Ten involving Scorpia."

At this point Three got bored of questions. Alex was honestly surprised at how quickly he stopped. Alex must have hit a bigger nerve than he had thought possible. Instead, he summarized several missions and proceeded to torture him with a wide array of weapons. About twenty minutes later Alex was unable to scream anymore and he hung limply in the ropes.

Many of the kids and teachers were crying. They were horrified with what Dr. Three had done to Alex who was now covered in blood and bruises. Stiffled sobs could be heard clearly now that Alex had fallen silent. None of them could imagine the pain Alex must have be in.

"Pathetic Alex," Three glared at the boy, "you were so much more fun last time."

The doors slammed open and men burst through the doors. Three cursed and drew his gun. He pointed it at Alex as he glanced over his shoulder. SAS had arrived.

This was what Alex had been waiting for. He had been loosening the bindings on his hands for a while now and had gotten them free a few minutes before. Alex grabbed Threes gun hand and turned the gun away from himself, his whole body screaming in agony. Alex managed to wrestle the gun away from Dr. Three.

Three turned and ran. He would not die here. He ran out through the emergency exit, Leaving Alex to collapse against the chair again, the gun held limply in his right hand.

The SAS came in, guns blazing, and shot the Scorpia soldier before they had a chance to react. Alex was slipping into unconsciousness, the gun still in his hand, when the SAS medic got to him.

"Shit!" the medic cursed. "I need help over here!" he yelled.

The other medics came running. The first medic said, "Lay him on the floor and apply pressure to the bullet wounds while I bind them."

They went to move him but were stopped when his gun pointed into one of their faces. Alex's eyes flickered open, "who are you?" he said hoarsely, not lowering the gun.

"SAS"

Alex stared at them for a moment then nodded. He clicked on the gun's safety and dropped it, "Is everyone else okay?"

"Yeah kid," said the medic. "What's your name?"

"Cub," Alex whispered. "The SAS know me as Cub."

The medic stopped binding the boy's arm in his shock, "Cub?"

I was… stationed… with… K-unit," Alex was trying not to nod off.

"Do you recognize me Cub?"

Alex shook his head, "I'm not seeing too clearly right now. He hit my head pretty hard. I'm pretty sure I've a concussion. If I had to guess though, you're snake. Otherwise, you wouldn't ask if I… recog…"

Alex passed out.

"Cub!" Snake yelled. "Shit, kid. You can't sleep right now." Snake slapped Alex across the face getting cries of outrage from the teachers, but nothing from Alex. He glared at the unconscious boy. "Wake up Cub!"

Another soldier walked up to the medics and placed his hand on Snakes shoulder, "He's out Snake. There's nothing more you can do till he gets to a hospital."

"Damn it Wolf! He's got a bloody concussion! What if he doesn't wake up?"

Tom had come over, getting through the soldiers by telling them the had important information. When he finally got to Alex he cured, grabbing Snake's attention. Tom stared at Alex, "Shit Alex… Why is it always you?"

"His name's Alex?" Snake asked.

Tom glared at him, "They sent you in without telling you his name? God those people are assholes. Did you even know you were rescuing a kid? 'Cause, Alex is going to kill them this time. I sent the signal a half hour ago."

Would and Snake turned to the strange boy. Wolf looked livid, "A half hour ago? We only were told ten minutes ago. Are you telling me that they let a child be tortured for twenty minutes before they even called for help?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Tom muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean Tom?" asked someone behind Tom.

Tom jumped and spun around, "Mr. Daniels? Why are you here?"

"Answer the question Tom," Ben Daniels growled. "What do you mean it's not the first time."

Another soldier ran over to the group, "The ambulance is here."

"Took long enough." Snake growled. "Send in the paramedics. We need to contact his parents."

Ben shifted uncomfortably, "I'm Alex's guardian."

Tom looked over, surprised, "It's official then? Alex let you into Jack's room?" In Tom's opinion legally didn't matter, just Alex's approval.

"He's not over her death yet by a long shot, but I can't blame him. He saw her get blown up after all but he wasn't given any other viable options. He was told: me, SAS, or a boys home."

The paramedics brought a stretcher and lifted Alex onto it. The paramedics looked like they were going to be sick. They didn't understand how a child in school could be so injured. Ben and Tom followed Alex into the ambulance which sped off to St. Dominics.

**Not a great chapter, but as this was hand written at first I'd say it has improved dramatically. Please review. I'll update this soon if you all like it. I already have the next chapter typed, I just have to edit it.**


	2. Chapter 1

**I do not own Alex Rider or NCIS. If I did I wouldn't be posting on this wonderful website until after I filmed/ wrote the story. Enjoy.**

**Chap** **2**

Alex woke up to a familiar beeping noise that accompanied being in a hospital. Without opening his eyes he called out for the person who would doubtless be there, "Jack?"

There was a sudden sound of something clattering to the floor and Alex's eyes shot open. A man swore violently, "Damn it! Why did that asshole choose now to go get coffee?"

"Wo- Wolf?"

"It's about time you woke up! You've been unconscious for-"

"Alex!"

Alex's stomach dropped as he took in the site of Ben Daniels standing in the doorway. "Hi Ben," He said quietly. Now he remembered. Jack was dead. Sharp memories flooded his mind. He saw the missions he and Ben had gone on, his stints being held by Scorpia and other, smaller organizations, and finally the attack on his school.

"He got away, didn't he?" Alex asked with a very small voice.

"Who?" asked Wolf.

"Three."

"Tom said it was… I had hoped he was wrong," Ben whispered sadly. "Yeah kid. He did."

"I can't stay in London anymore," Alex said quietly. Can I- Can I call Tom? He- I need to talk to him. It's- it's important, and I doubt I have much time to Do it before Jones shows up."

Ben wordlessly handed over his phone to Alex who took it with a nod of thanks.

"Call Alpha-seven-cub," Alex told the phone, receiving an answering, "Calling Tom Harris. " Alex sighed as it rang before he heard his friend pick up. "Hey Tom… Yeah I-... how long?... St. Dominic's… Alright, see you in ten." Alex hung up the phone and rounded on Ben, "Thirty six days? I was in a bloody coma?"

Ben winced, "Yeah, you were. You were in really bad shape by the time we got there."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"You're going into witness protection. You'll be staying with some one with no prior affiliation to Scorpia or MI6."

"That won't be enough," Alex said quietly. "It's not enough to get them off of my trail."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, pondering the life of Alex Rider, the teen spy. Alex found himself thinking of school, how he used to so enjoy playing soccer and hanging out with all of his friends. He couldn't help the anger that tinged the memory of his uncle, his uncle who had inadvertently caused Alex's life to become so twisted and violent. Ben was thinking of the innocent young boy who had appeared in Beacon Breacons for ten days. Wolf, well he was thinking about the boy's bloodied body when they had rescued him from the school.

"Let me in!" an angry voice broke the three out of their reveries.

Alex coughed slightly, "Better let him in before he does something stupid. A pissed off Tom is just as dangerous as a fully trained Scorpia agent," Alex grinned for the first time since he had woken up. "Come on in Tom!"

Tom pushed open the door, the soldiers staring into the room in stunned disbelief, "When did the kid wake up?" K-unit's new member asked.

"Alex! You're okay!" Tom gushed, rushing into the room. "I've been trying to see you for the past month, but your unit's a bit paranoid… How're you feeling?"

"Like an elephant decided to sit on my chest," Alex joked. "Did everyone else make it out alright?"

Tom frowned at Alex, "I don't care if everyone else is alright. I saw you get _tortured_ Alex! No one else even got hurt and you're asking me about them? No. I will not have you guilt tripping again. None of what happened was your fault. It was MI6's. SAS wasn't even informed of the threat until twenty minutes after I sent the distress signal."

Alex sucked in a deep breath, "And I thought having Jones blackmailing me would be somehow better. She's just as bad as Blunt though, isn't she?"

"Actually, I don't think Blunt would have sent backup at all," Ben interjected quietly. "Particularly not after what I found out…"

Alex's eyebrows raised slightly, "What did you find out exactly?"

"I borrowed your access code and hacked into Blunt's old file from when your father had just started working at MI6. It turns out your father kept getting Blunt's failed missions and completing them successfully, giving Blunt a bad name, or at least in his opinions. When he became the head your father's missions became increasingly more dangerous until he finally went into Scorpia. You know the story from there better than I do…"

"You mean Blunt _wanted_ my Dad to die?" Alex asked sharply. "He's the reason they're dead?"

Ben winced, "Yes, I believe so."

Alex felt hot tears of anger streaked down his face, "He's the reason I grew up without a family? He destroyed my family because he was jealous? Is that also why every mission I've gone on has been a suicide mission?"

"I don't know," Ben answered honestly. "I just thought I should tell you before you leave."

"Leave?" Tom yelped. "He just woke up!"

Alex smiled at his friend's defense, "Tom, I'm just going into witness protection."

"They said they were sending you to Cairo for your safety too," Tom pointed out.

Alex's gaze sharpened angrily, "Don't bring her into this!"

"You're being stupid! You won't talk to anyone about it, you won't even say her name! It's eating you alive!"

"I can't stay here! They know where I am now. It's too dangerous."

Tom sighed, "Alright Alex. But you better call me and let me know you're alright. I don't like you doing this. Is Ben at least going with you?"

Alex shook his head, "It's just me. I won't see Ben until Scorpia is good and gone, Will I?"

Ben nodded solemnly. "We ought to get you on the next flight to America. There have been enough attacks on you here as is. I have your bullet proof clothes in the drawer. Why weren't you wearing them to school that day?"

Alex sighed, "Smithers hadn't finished making a school uniform bullet proof yet. He was due to finish the next day, remember."

ARNCIS

Alex was wheeled off the plane by one of the security men. He was in Washington D.C., Jack's home town. He quickly made it through customs, showing his ID that read Alexander John Porter. Soon they were at the pickup site, Alex's knapsack full of his stuff slung over the back of his chair.

"Thank you officer," Alex told the security guard. "I think I can find my ride from here."

"Are you sure? I can stay until you find them."

Alex gave the man a grateful smile and pointed to a man holding a name card, "That's him. I've got it." He wheeled himself over to the man. "Hello sir. I'm Alex."

The man glanced at him in surprise, "You're the one who needs protection? We were told to expect a Seal."

Alex scowled, pulling out the dog tags he wore, "I was a navy seal for a few months before I was… reassigned."

"I don't believe you," The man replied. "You're only a teen."

"And my boss is an idiot," Alex responded. "Can we discuss this elsewhere before we get attacked? What's your name?"

"Dinozzo, Anthony Dinozzo, NCIS."

**Ta da. Done with chapter one. This chapter is really just to set up for the next chapter. Please review. It makes me nervous if you don't 'cause I cant tell if anyone actually liked it…**


	3. Chapter 2

**I don't own anything you recognize. Duh…**

**Gibbs is really hard to write… I wrote him completely wrong like three times before I got it, and I'm still not sure if I got it!**

Ziva was waiting out in the car for Tony and the witness when she heard a gun shot, followed by screams of terror. She jumped out of the car towards the sound of the gunshot . When she managed to push her way through the panicked, fleeing crowd into the airport terminal she saw four guns trained on a boy in a wheelchair and Tony pointing a gun at the four armed men.

"NCIS!" Ziva yelled. "Put your weapons down!"

The men ignored her, speaking to the boy in the wheel chair, "Come with us Rider and we won't shoot your little cop friends."

The boy shrugged, "I've never met them before. Hand me a gun and I'll shoot them myself," he said with a wry, smug smile. Ziva quickly glanced at Tony, startled by the boy's comment.

The man who had spoken laughed at the boy, "Yeah right. I trained with you kid. I'm not letting you anywhere near a gun. Plus, you're the target, not them."

"Leave me alone. My life's already destroyed. Mission accomplished-"

Ziva fired four rapid shots into the men, instantly downing three of them. Tony fired at the last man at the same time as the man fired at Alex. Alex threw himself out of the chair with reflexes that could only be achieved with years of experiences. He gave a muffled cried out as pain lanced through his arm as he landed on it.

"Are you hit Alex?" Tony asked.

"No," Alex replied. "We need to get out of here now. They'll be back with more people."

"Where's the SEAL?" Ziva asked urgently.

Alex sighed, "Right here. You can call my training officer later- after we're somewhere secure."

An impish grin flashed across Tony's face, "Ziva, What do you think this was, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? I had it under control."

She frowned at him, "You looked like you were between a rock and a cliff."

"Rock and a hard place, Ziva," he muttered. "And I was fine! I had it under control!"

She just gave him a stern look and a sarcastic, "Sure…"

Alex gave laughed, "Sorry Agent Dinozzo, we would both be dead if it weren't for your radiant Israeli partner. Don't worry though. Those guys are some of the best trained assassins in the country. Being saved by a girl is something to be thankful for, not irritated about…" A satisfied smile flashed across Ziva's face long enough to irritate Tony. Alex's tone quickly changed to slightly anxious though, breaking through Ziva's triumphant moment, "Can we get out of here now though?"

With a puzzled nod Ziva led the way to the car, Tony pushing Alex's wheelchair and helping him into the car. Once they were on the road Tony asked about the wheelchair, "What happened to your leg?"

"That's not my first run in with those guys," Alex said by way of explanation.

"How long until you can get rid of the chair?"

Alex just shrugged, "I probably could now but my doctor and my best friend made me promise not to stand on it until I've had it checked out again."

It was about a half hour later when they pulled up to NCIS headquarters` and Alex found himself getting anxious, "Why are we here? Does witness protection normally go through the Navy?"

They gave him an odd look, "Witness protection? We were told to provide protection duty on you- if you really are who you say you are- but witness protection is a whole other thing."

Ziva gave Alex a deeply appraising look, "You're British obviously, but you claim to be a SEAL. You claim you were told you were going into witness protection, yet we were told to play bodyguards for you… What is going on?"

Dinozzo shrugged at the beautiful Israeli, "Maybe it was a miscommunication. Gibbs'll sort it out. Come on Mr. Porter, My boss'll take care of everything."

Alex scowled, "More likely he'll try and get stonewalled like no doubt my guardian will."

He wheeled Alex to the metal detectors, "Any metal, drugs, or weapons on the table kid. Any drugs will obviously not be returned."

Alex groaned silently, "How stupid do you take me for?"

"You're basically in a police station and you're how old, twelve?"

"Twenty," Alex lied, not having to fake his irritation. He removed two knives that were strapped to his forearms and one strapped to his ankle. From his pocket he took out a bottle of pills and flashed them at Dinozzo, "You going to confiscate these?"

Dinozzo tried to grab the bottle but Alex shook his head, "No touching. This is the good stuff. No refills, you know? I'm sure I'll need every pill in here, so they stay with me."

"What are they?" Dinozzo asked, wondering what the kid considered the good stuff.

"Oxycodon."

"For the leg wound."

"…Yeah…"

All of Alex's stuff got through security, and, with the exception of the knives, everything was returned to him. Alex's attempts to retain the weapons were met by flat refusals. He was wheeled into the elevator. He hated elevators now because of the mission with Ash and his time in the storage container. He didn't have a fear of elevators or anything but they made him uncomfortable and tense. He thanked his SEAL training for the fact that he had no phobias, save one.

The elevator doors slid open thirty seconds after their initial closing, revealing the bullpen. Raising his voice well above a normal office voice Dinozzo yelled over to a man at a desk near the stare case, "McGeek, where's Gibbs?"

"MTAC," McGee said without looking up from his screen. "Some British guy requested to speak with him."

Alex's head snapped up and he wheeled himself over to the man, "Do you know his name?"

McGee glanced up to look at Alex, "Umm… No. Who are you exactly?" He asked in polite puzzlement.

"Alex Porter," Alex offered his hand to McGee.

"Agent Timothy McGee," He returned the handshake. "I read your file. It's pretty impressive."

Alex raised an eyebrow, "I thought it was all classified?"

McGee just shrugged, "Gibbs likes to know what he's getting into. Your picture wasn't available in the file so do you have a way to confirm your identity? You look a little young for the SEALs."

"I got shot in the arm in a mission in Iraq," Alex said, wondering if that would be proof enough.

Let's see it then," Tony said as a grey haired man came down the stairs behind McGee.

Alex grimaced but pulled up his sleeve to about halfway up his elbow, careful not to lift it any higher. There were quite enough scars on that small portion of skin to arouse someone's suspicions, his entire arm would definitely warrant too much suspicion for him to avoid having to tell them about Scorpia. He glanced at the grey haired man and saw him studying his arm intently. Alex could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"That's a lot of scars," Tony remarked with an appreciative whistle.

Alex shrugged, "I did some hard jobs before my time as a SEAL."

"Well Mr. Porter, I understand we are to keep you safe from whoever's after you?" The question was sharp, demanding he tell him who Alex needed protection from.

"I'm sorry," Alex said coldly. "I don't believe we've been introduced."

"Agent Gibbs. We can talk on the way to our crime scene." It amazed Tony and McGee how Gibbs could sound so threatening with such a mundane statement. "Dinozzo!" He tossed a pair of keys to the younger man, "You're driving."

"Yes Boss!"

The team rushed to grab their gear. Alex watched in silence, trying to get a feel for their personalities. Dinozzo, he had noticed, was rather cocky and liked to flirt with Ziva and tease McGee. McGee also seemed pretty straightforward. He seemed to be the tech guy and the brains of the team, but lacked much of the confidence that Tony seemed to have an overabundance of…Ziva was the hardest of the three to wrap his head around. She was obviously Mossad, yet the team seemed completely at ease with her. She actually reminded him of Ben a bit, but much prettier.

Agent Gibbs, well he hadn't seen anything to tell him about the man except that he was direct and commanded his team's loyalty, and more importantly their respect. He decided to hold off on any further analysis of the man until the man gave up something worth analyzing.

ARNCIS ARNCIS

They passed through the Naval Academy gates, past the throngs of tourists who seemed to be roaming the area. The crime scene itself was near the large synagogue that had been recently built, but closer to the water. Alex had been here a few times and had fond memories of the place that were now marred by the sight of the dead body propped up against a tree. Shore patrol had already cordoned off the area by the time they arrived. Alex was surprised to note how few people were hovering around the crime scene.

The man himself was covered in vicious looking bruises. Alex noted the lack of defensive wounds on the man and assumed some one had caught him by surprise, probably from behind. He had likely been out cold before the beating had even started. Most disturbing about the crime scene though was the note that had been nailed into the victim's head.

Dinozzo started taking pictures of the body while Gibbs went to speak to the midshipman who had discovered the body and the chief petty officer from Shore Patrol. After Dinozzo had finished photographing the body, he carefully removed the note from the nail, making sure that the nail wasn't moved in the process.

Alex watched apprehensively at the note, knowing full well that notes left on bodies were never good things. He watched Gibbs curiously, watching for how the man would react to what was written. To Alex's annoyance the only thing the man did as he read the note was frown slightly. He read it again before turning to McGee.

"McGee! Get this to Abby! I want to know everything about whoever did this. Tell Abby to double check everything! Tell her to drop whatever else she's doing until she knows what _tree_ this piece of paper came from!"

Alex frowned. It must be pretty serious for him to get so worked up over. He knew it was probably bad, but this seemed more serious than a simple note left by a murderer. Alex guessed it hinted at a more insidious plan.

Alex doubted the man was going to let him see the note. Even though Gibbs thought he was twenty, he had made it clear that he still saw Alex as a teenager, not a fully trained SEAL. Instead he examined the crime scene with a practiced eye. That's when he saw it.

"Gibbs," Alex called over to the man, wheeling himself closer to a tree just across from the body. When Gibbs turned around to look at him Alex pointed to the tree, "Some one's watching."

Indeed, there was a camera hidden in the tree branches with a perfect view of the entire crime scene. Alex grimaced when he remembered that he would definitely be featured on the video, especially now that he'd singled himself out.

Gibbs once more beckoned for McGee, "McGee! Come take a look at this!"

Alex wheeled himself out of the camera's scope towards Tony, "Hey, Agent Dinozzo?"

"Yeah?" Dinozzo asked, snapping a picture of a bloody footprint.

"Do you mind if I go look at the view? I could use a break from all the death, you know?"

Dinozzo nodded absently, "Sure kid. Don't go out of sight though."

Alex nodded and wheeled himself over to the bulkhead, wishing he could shoot Three in the leg so _he_ was in a wheelchair. Alex wanted nothing more than to dangle his feet over the edge like he used to do with-

"Alex, is that you?"

Alex nearly jumped a foot in surprise, cursing himself for his lapse in concentration. Forgetting about his leg he jumped up before it buckled underneath him, "Agh!"

Gibbs appeared behind the man who had startled Alex, gun drawn, "Step away from him and-"

"Dave?" Alex asked from where he was now sitting on the ground holding his leg.

**Okay, so there's the chapter. Who's Dave- friend or foe? What was in the note that was on the body? Who's watching them and why? **

**Read and Review. Also, I really am worried about my portrayal of Gibbs. If he wasn't such a quiet person he'd be so much easier to write, but no, he has to be the stoic type… *grumbling under my breath***


	4. Chapter 3

**To recap: Alex got tortured by Dr. Three and is put in a coma for 36 days. When he wakes up he's instantly sent to America where he thinks he's going into Witness Protection. He's also wheelchair bound- at least until a doctor clears him. Instead of Witness Protection he meets Tony and the rest of the team. The team is sent on a case and Alex wanders away…**

"_Alex, is that you?"_

_Alex nearly jumped a foot in surprise, cursing himself for his lapse in concentration. Forgetting about his leg he jumped up before it buckled underneath him, "Agh!"_

_Gibbs appeared behind the man who had startled Alex, gun drawn, "Step away from him and-"_

"_Dave?" Alex asked from where he was now sitting on the ground holding his leg._

"Alex, please have your friend drop the gun."

Alex thought about it for a few moments before nodding, "Agent Gibbs, this is David McPherson. We went through training together."

Gibbs lowered the gun slightly, but did not put it away, "What's your business here?"

"It's graduation," Dave told Gibbs as though he were a bit slow.

"Boss!" Tony came running over. "We found another camera."

ARNCIS

After the second camera had been found Gibbs had helped Alex back into the wheelchair and ordered the team to pack up and head back to base. Another team would finish securing the scene.

Meanwhile, Alex had managed to secure a time to talk to Dave in two weeks at a café a short distance from NCIS with Gibbs's permission. Both SEAL's had been a bit irritated about the sudden need for departure.

Now Alex sat twiddling his thumbs as Gibbs and his team went down to speak to a woman named Abby. Another NCIS agent from one of the other teams was currently babysitting Alex, his hand twitching towards his gun every time someone spoke or moved into his field of vision.

Alex smirked to himself, recognizing the agent for what he was: Green. "Relax. If you twitch at everything you'll just tire yourself out. If you're at all tired you'll be in no condition to defend against an attack."

The agent sneered at Alex, believing him to be just a kid here because something happened to his parents. "_I'm _doing my job- watching for _any_ signs of danger."

Alex laughed, "Kid, have you ever been in a situation like this? Take the advice. A senior field agent would tell you the same thing."

"You're just a kid. What would you know about 'situations like this'?" the agent sneered.

"First, I'm not a kid. I am twenty fucking years old and a Navy SEAL. Second- I've been dealing with this shit since before you even thought about joining NCIS."

The agent paled, "You're a SEAL?"

Alex smiled- maybe he had gotten through to the man. "If you're worried about being able to react quickly, keep your gun in your hand. Stop searching for specific sources of danger and focus on the area as a whole. Look for figures that are acting strangely or are paying just a bit too much attention."

The agent soaked in the information, his gun now in hand. He felt steadier, more able to adapt to any situation without having to worry about getting his gun out.

The elevator pinged and Gibbs stepped out, "Porter! Let's go."

Alex frowned, "Where?"

"My house."

Alex nodded in acknowledgement, "Alright. I assume your orders are to keep me in sight at all hours, correct?"

Gibbs didn't reply, but Alex hadn't expected one. It was rather obvious from Alex's twitchy green agent that was 'guarding' him while Gibbs had met with the forensic scientist.

"Any leads on that note?" Alex asked, hoping the man would drop a clue as to it's content. They boarded the elevator.

"We've got the situation under control," Gibbs avoided.

Alex rolled his eyes but didn't press. He had no doubt he'd figure it out soon. It was just the nature of his luck. If there was something hidden he always managed to get dragged into the situation, whether of his own volition, by force, or his sheer bad luck.

After Gibbs helped Alex into the car and stowed his wheelchair in the trunk, the set off. It only took ten minutes of driving for Alex to drift off to sleep.

Gibbs drove in silence, thanking his good fortune that Alex had fallen asleep. He needed to think without worrying about the boy, and now he had the time. The note they had found at the crime scene was disturbing. That, paired with the two cameras, had Gibbs and the team concerned.

He was sure Alex wanted to know the note's content, and was careful not to give anything away. He thought back to the conversation he had had with the British official in regards to the young SEAL. The specific threat had been obscured, but it had been made clear that Porter was not to be left alone at any point. The only thing Gibbs knew about the threat was that a terrorist group was after the SEAL.

When they arrived at the house Gibbs called Alex's name in an attempt to wake him up. Alex's eyes shot open, filled with a wariness and alertness that was tinged with something else: Fear.

The moment passed as he took in the neighborhood in a swift glance at their surroundings. The fear changed quickly to relief and then even quicker to a neutral expression, "How long was I asleep?"

"About a half hour," Gibbs informed him. He helped Alex into the wheelchair and into the house. "This is my house. There's an old TV in the living room. Normally I'd give you my room, but since it's upstairs you've got the couch. It also makes the guard rotation easier."

Alex sighed, "I'm guessing your British meeting this morning was about me? Specific orders on not letting me out of your sight for an instant?"

Gibbs frowned, "Yeah."

"I don't know whether that's for my sake or his…"

Gibbs gave him a questioning look.

"Everyone who knows me well knows I have a habit of… finding trouble… I'm the type of person who follows a drug dealer home before bringing them to the police myself. Never really occurs to me to just call the cops…"

Gibbs stared at the boy appraisingly, "So our job is to basically keep you where any damage you do can be controlled?"

Alex laughed at the wording, "Yeah. That sounds about right."

"Go to sleep kid," Gibbs told the boy kindly, helping Alex onto the couch and putting the remote within the boy's reach. Alex nodded and closed his eyes.

Gibbs walked into the kitchen and pulled out a beer before calling Tony and asking if the team would come over for dinner so they could discuss watch schedules for Alex.

For three hours Gibbs sat in the kitchen in a chair that had a clear view of the living room where Alex slept. When the door swung open Gibbs saw the boy bolt upright in alarm and turn his head towards the door.

"You should really lock your door boss," Dinozzo's voice called from the entrance.

Gibbs let out a small huff, "Don't have to worry about covering other entrances if the front door is open."

Alex let out bark of laughter, "Who are you dealing with? Petty thieves? You're dealing with a fucking terrorist group with a blood feud against me. They use _all_ possible entrances to infiltrate a location."

Gibbs met Alex's gaze for a few moments before shrugging, "Still no point locking the door."

Alex inclined his head in silent agreement. To both men's surprise, Alex pushed himself to his feet, using the sofa for support, "Getting shot hurts like a bitch. I had forgotten how much I hate getting shot." He gingerly took a step towards the wheelchair and groaned.

He staggered the last two feet to the chair and nearly collapsed into it, "Alright. Now I understand why the doctor said no walking."

The men just raised their eyebrows in disbelief, both wondering what the boy had hoped to accomplish. Just then the door opened again, "Hey boss? You should really lock your door- especially with Alex staying here."

Ziva followed McGee in through the door, "No. If someone's here for Alex, locking the door won't help."

Alex laughed so hard he nearly doubled over while the Israeli tried to figure out what was so funny.

They all went into the kitchen and Dinozzo was told to order pizza.

"What kind do you want Alex?" Tony asked.

"Pepperoni and onion," Alex replied, surprisingly nervous. "Ummm… What if it's poisoned?"

Tony nearly dropped the phone in surprise, "Poisoned?"

Alex blushed. "It's happened a few times over the last two years," he told Tony honestly.

"SEAL's can blush!" Tony said in shock.

"We are human, Tony," Alex told him.

"So what would you suggest for food then?" Gibbs asked.

Alex smiled and pulled out his cellphone and dialed a number, "Hello, this is Devil's Luck. I'd like to place my usual order, dropped off at the docks. One of my associates will pick it up… Yes, I'll wire it tonight. Thanks Jimmy."

Alex looked into the shocked faces of his companions, "There's a place in Georgetown that makes food for paranoid schizophrenics so that their customers aren't afraid of being poisoned. Most customers pick a code name. I got mine because as I picked up my first order I nearly got mugged. It was actually quite funny."

"Being nearly mugged is funny?" Ziva asked incredulously.

Alex smirked, "It is when the mugger thinks they're attacking a teenager and then find out they're facing a SEAL. He wasn't exactly subtle."

McGee looked at Ziva, "He reminds me of you when you first got here."

"Anyway," Gibbs cut in. "Watch schedules. Here."

They each took a copy of the schedules and looked them over. Alex watched each of them carefully. Ziva nodded her quick acceptance. McGee shrugged. Tony…

"This means no drinking!"

Gibbs slapped the back of his head, "We've all got Saturday and Sunday off. Drink then if you must."

Alex glanced at the clock, 'You should leave in about ten minutes to pick up the food. It'll be at the marina near base."

"That's a forty minute drive each way!" Tony protested.

"The food's worth it. Trust me."

Tony snorted in disbelief but volunteered to pick it up anyways.

**AN: Dave will be in the later chapters, but I realized during one of my twenty some odd attempts at this chapter that I could not advance the story with him actively in play so early. Also the note is driving me crazy! I still don't know what is in it exactly! I know what I'm using it for, but beyond that- I really don't know. **


	5. Chapter 4

**To recap: Alex got tortured by Dr. Three and is put in a coma for 36 days. When he wakes up he's instantly sent to America where he thinks he's going into Witness Protection. He's also wheelchair bound- at least until a doctor clears him. Instead of Witness Protection he meets Tony and the rest of the team. The team is sent on a case and Alex wanders away. The team finds a second camera and rushes back to base. Alex reveals a bit of his past and paranoia and watch schedules are given out.**

Chapter4

When Tony got back from the food drop he was carrying two large shopping bags, "How much food did you get?"

"By myself? Enough to survive two months if I ration it. With you guys here, probably a week's worth. Alex popped out his pill bottle and dry swallowed one of the horse pills with a sigh. He pulled one of the shopping bags over to him and began unpacking it. All the food was packaged in small tins the size of a microwave meal. Alex opened the top one and pulled out a letter.

Alex smiled as he read, "Food's safe. There's some chicken and steak already cooked in the other bag. Mash potatoes are in there too. I've got some seafood in here, but that needs to go in the freezer as it's still raw."

Tony opened one of the tins and stared, "You bought gourmet food? Two months worth?"

"I like good food," Alex responded with a shrug. "Plus, I need real sustenance. My body's been using an IV to get nutrients for a month. I really need to start regaining some badly needed weight."

"If you were just taken off the IV you should be eating soft foods," McGee told Alex.

Alex grinned, "I'm not very good at listening to doctors. I'm only listening about the wheelchair because I'd like to retain full use of my leg. Oh well. It'll be fine in about a week and then I can disregard that too."

"We have instructions to protect you from yourself as well as the outside world," Gibbs informed the young man.

Alex frowned, "And you're going to listen to a bunch of stuffy Brits?"

"They obviously had a reason for the order," replied Gibbs.

"I have a good reason as well. It's called being able to run- or even walk- could mean the difference between me staying alive or ending up face down in a ditch."

They stared at him, at a loss for words. Never before had they met a stranger person that they were meant to protect. Normally only the criminals were this crazy.

Alex pulled out a tin and opened it to reveal a still steaming thing of pasta with tomato sauce mixed into it. Alex began to eat, ignoring the team's stares. It wasn't really worth paying attention to. He was used to it from when he would come back to school and everyone was wondering where he had been.

ARNCIS ARNCIS

The next week was spent with Alex regaining his strength. Each day he was able to stay up longer and was less prone to falling asleep at random. In addition Alex had spent the time getting to know the team.

He found that he and Ziva had the most in common by far, but that since they were both equally reticent to volunteer information pertaining to their pasts their relationship remained rocky. McGee was the nicest in the group, but he really was a geek. Alex didn't think there was anything wrong with that, but their interests just didn't match. Tony was _obsessed_ with women and cars and managed to make Alex laugh more than any of the others, but like the others, Alex just couldn't relate to him properly.

Then there was Gibbs... Gibbs was the quietest of the team, only speaking when he had something important to say. He didn't mince his words, nor did he make small talk. Alex liked him best except he was also the one the teen was most wary. He was observant, always seeming to watch Alex. Since Alex wasn't sure what he was looking for, the attention made him close up around the man.

The only one of the NCIS group that Alex felt he could talk freely with was their forensic scientist, Abby. She was so sweet and innocent that it was strange to find her dressed as a Goth analyzing evidence from various murders.

Today was Friday and Alex was sitting beside Gibbs, who was currently his guard. He watched with amusement as Gibbs yelled at McGee to give him a hard copy of some report. Gibbs's hatred of technology just made Alex want to laugh because it was so ridiculous. Alex knew that most of his generation could work a computer by the time they were eight. Therefore, Gibbs's disdain for technology was worthy of ridicule from the young spy. Alex was oddly reminded of his uncle when he looked at Gibbs.

Still, he avoided the shrewd man, hoping to keep his secret.

Tomorrow Alex was to be guarded by another team while Gibbs's team took a day off. Normally the team would keep the shifts within their team, but since this was a possibly long term assignment it had been deemed necessary that the team have a day off.

Alex was not happy with that decision at all.

"Come on Alex," Gibbs jolted Alex out of his brooding. "We're going to see Abby."

Alex instantly perked up, loving the happy Goth as much as he had any person since Jack's death. She was the only one who didn't seem to care at all who he was. Oh, she was curious, of course, but she didn't pry, or watch him suspiciously. Rather the contrary. She seemed to think he needed someone to be nice to him. Goodness knew he hugged him at every chance.

"Alright," he said cheerfully. "Did she find something out about the note?"

Gibbs's face darkened almost imperceptibly at the mention of the note, "No. We haven't found anything yet. Why are you so interested in it?"

_Ah, there it was_. The question Alex had been waiting for Gibbs to ask. He had been on the verge of asking several times already, but hadn't quite been ready to ask. Apparently now he was.

"I'm naturally curious," Alex told him truthfully. "Plus, I know it has you guys worried, and since my life depends on you all at the moment, I'd like to know why."

Gibbs didn't seem to care for Alex's answer, "It's _classified_ information. Only caseworkers get to know its contents. Now, stop snooping."

They arrived in Abby's lab moments later and the happy Goth instantly ran over to smother Alex in a hug, "Hi Alex!"

Alex extricated himself from her arms, "Hi Abby."

"Gibbs! Perfect timing as always! I got a trace!"

"To where?"

Abby rattled off an address and Gibbs made a small sound of annoyance. "Damn. That's a cyber cafe four blocks over."

Abby's face fell, "Oh. Sorry. I hadn't gotten a chance to check it's specifics before you guys got here."

In the short silence that followed Alex heard a familiar noise that set his heart racing, "Bomb!"

The other two stared at him a moment before they too heard the quiet ticking of the bomb. Gibbs quickly grabbed the back of Alex's chair and began pushing him out of the room as Abby fled towards the stairs on Gibbs's orders. They had barely rounded the corner when the bomb went off, sending Alex and Gibbs flying.

Alex felt everything fade to black as he was thrown into a wall.

**AN: Shorter than normal, but this seemed to be an appropriate place to stop. I'm sorry that I suck at updating, but it's partially due to work and partially due to following story bunnies around… I will tell you that I am already halfway done with the next chapter.**

**_Please review__!_ It would mean a lot to me. Also, there is no better motivation for writing!**


	6. Chapter 5

**I do not own Alex Rider or NCIS. If I said I did would you believe me? I would. (Just kidding). But seriously- I'm inclined to think at least one famous author uses fanfiction to get story ideas or to bounce concepts off of a target audience. It makes sense, right? **

Alex woke up to the extremely familiar beeping with a groan, not of pain, but of frustration. "I hate hospitals..."

"He's awake!" It was Tony.

Alex opened his eyes to see Tony and Ziva sitting between him and another bed. Looking at the other bed, he realized that it was Gibbs lying there. Gibbs had bandages wrapped around his head and his left arm.

Alex felt guilt wash over him, "Is he alright?"

Tony nodded, not seeming at all concerned, "He'll be fine. He's got a small concussion and some burns. You dislocated your right shoulder and sprained your left wrist."

"Abby?"

"Perfectly fine thanks to your warning. She's at home, sleeping off the shock."

"Good. When can I leave here?" Alex's tone bordered on begging. Hospitals were a nightmare for Alex.

"You just got here!"

"So?"

"So you can't just leave!"

"I've spent the last month in the hospital. I want out of here. I hate these damned places!" Alex hadn't realized how much he wanted out until that moment and his voice had risen to reflect the unacknowledged frustration.

"Sorry Alex," Tony said. "The doctor wants to keep you here for a few more hours at least."

Alex pulled himself upright, noting the soreness in his limbs. "This suck. I knew they would figure out where I was, but I thought they were going for capture rather than kill me. I've decided they should either succeed, or decide to keep me alive." He was proud to say that he didn't sound like the whining teenager he wanted to be.

"Why would they want to capture you? Even if you are a SEAL, why are they going after you in particular?"

Alex decided that perhaps he hadn't given Tony enough credit. Perhaps the man did have an aptitude for his job.

Sighing Alex just shook his head, "I can't tell you that. Just know that they have abundant reasons to target me specifically.

A pretty, female doctor came bustling into the room, "You're awake. Good. I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt. We tried earlier, but it seemed to trigger some sort of panic attack."

_Where was a desk when you needed one?_ Alex wondered in frustration. He really wanted to pound his head against it.

"I'm going to have to politely decline," he said instead.

The doctor was not pleased, "I can have your friends leave, but I do insist that you let me take a look at you."

Alex thought about it, realizing that this nurse wouldn't take no for an answer. "Fine. If they leave and you swear that what you see stays between you and I."

"Deal," the American agreed. She shooed the angry NCIS agents out of the room, irritably reminding the agents that they could guard the door just as well as the people inside it.

With a glance at the still unconscious Gibbs, Alex pulled off his shirt. The woman gasped as she took in the hundreds of scars that adorned his body. Even if the sheer amount of them hadn't made an impression, the nature of the wounds would have. Burns, stab wounds, slash wounds, whip marks, bites, and small puncture wounds adorned his torso.

"What happened? These are not from the explosion!"

Lying to the woman would have been stupid with the evidence staring her in the face, "I was tortured Ma'am. That's why we have agents guarding the room."

The woman let out a strangled sob, "You're so young though!"

Alex laughed humorlessly, "Can you keep another secret?" Silently he wondered why he was telling her anything. Shrugging inwardly, he decided that he would need some American doctor to take a look at him anyway, so it was just as well. As to why he would choose such an emotional doctor… Well she looked uncannily like Jack and emotional people were easier to manipulate. Plus, she was already here.

She nodded with tears still streaming down her face.

"I'm sixteen years old, not twenty something."

She stared at him in confusion, tears disappearing in a flash. Maybe she really was the right person. She certainly could put her emotions on hold in a heart beat. "Then why..."

"It's safer to travel as an adult several years my senior than as a teen. It also makes it harder to find me, not that that seemed to work out. The reason I'm telling you this is because my doctor needs someone to check out my leg to tell me how it has healed since he's back in Britain. I prefer to keep it down to one person."

Her features hardened in resolve, "I'll take over monitoring your health. It will stay between us. You can trust me."

"I don't trust anyone," Alex replied, his voice slightly bitter. "Trust is a luxury I can little afford." He slipped his shirt back on.

"Let's check your leg."

A few minutes later she gave him an all clear to walk on it so long as he used crutches.

Alex smiled, glad that he would be free of the wheelchair.

He was released two hours later into Ziva's custody. Tony would be remaining with Gibbs. Alex was pleased to say that he was now the owner of a pair of crutches and would only use the wheelchair when he grew tired.

ARNCIS ARNCIS

Another week passed and Alex had decided that if he never saw NCIS's extra team again it would be too soon. Gibbs's team at least treated him like a person. The other team seemed to think they were there to keep _him_ from escaping, rather than keep _other people_ from getting him. Unfortunately, today was another of the spare team's shifts, so Alex would be spending the day with them at Gibbs's house. Gibbs in the meantime was catching up on work, having made a full recovery from the explosion.

Alex was lying on the couch texting Tom and trying to get his guards to leave him alone for a few minutes. It was 2:48 in the afternoon when Alex heard one of the windows shatter behind him, right before he and his guards all started coughing as tear gas spread through the house.

Alex tried to stop inhaling it, but it was too late.

A man came into the room wearing a gas mask and injected something into Alex's neck while he was still doubled over and for the second time in just over a week, Alex's world went black.

ARNCIS ARNCIS

When Director Vance came rushing over to Gibbs's desk, Gibbs knew something was seriously wrong. Thirty seconds later Gibbs could be found burning the rubber on his tires, striking out towards his house at breakneck pace.

Upon arriving at his house he found no less than six police cars. He could already see a body by the side of his house. Dread filled every fiber of his being.

Barely taking the time to put his car in park he jumped out of the car and ducked under the yellow tape, flashing his badge at the cops, demanding a report.

"This is our crime scene," the head police officer didn't answer Gibbs's question.

"This is my house! My witness was in there!" Gibbs yelled.

"There are three dead men. A fourth man is on his way to the hospital."

"How old was the youngest?" Gibbs asked sharply.

"Twenty-five."

Gibbs felt a surge of relief, "Send out a missing person's alert. He's twenty one, but he looks to be about fifteen. Blond hair, 5'10. Brown eyes. His name's Alex Porter."

The police officer could see the anger on Gibbs's face and was prepared to say something when an officer came running out, "Sir, we found something!"

Both Gibbs and the officer rushed into the house. The younger officer showed the two older men a piece of paper.

"Shit," Gibbs swore. "Give me that."

He took the note and read it.

_The first move has been made. Your charge, taken for me to play with, shall accessible via the link left below. _

_I have all the cards. Can you find them? Each hour we will play with a different toy._

_The clock is ticking,_

_The Card Dealer_

A link was scrawled across the bottom of the note, along with a time and a warning not to go to the link until that specified time.

Gibbs pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tony, "Porter's been kidnapped. Three of our men are dead and the other is in the hospital. Head there and find out what happened. Call McGee and Ziva and have them meet me at the office." he hung up and spoke to the officer in charge. "This is our jurisdiction. It was my men and my charge that was taken."

The officer knew his reasoning was valid and nodded, "We'll keep the scene blocked off until your people get here."

"Thanks." Gibbs got back in his still running car and headed for the office, the note held firmly in his hand, luckily bagged so they could still get any prints that may have been left. If anything happened to Alex, it would be completely his fault. After all, it wasn't Alex who was the target, but the NCIS team that was in charge of him.

If Alex died, Gibbs wasn't sure he would be able to forgive himself.

ARNCIS ARNCIS

Alex woke up with the splitting headache that always accompanied being knocked out. Angrily cursing his own inattention back at the house that had led to his being so affected by the tear gas, he opened his senses to his surroundings. If he had been properly paying attention before, he wouldn't have breathed it in.

Opening his eyes he found himself in what appeared to be an old vault of some kind. There were shelves across the back and a titanium steel door in the front. The other walls were also made of the same cold steel, but it was clear that there was only one exit. To Alex's left Alex was dismayed to see a red video camera light. Beneath the camera was a safe that took a numerical passcode. To his right was a long chain that ended when he reached his ankle.

Glaring at the offending shackle, Alex pulled out a bobby pin from his shoe and set to pick locking the small key hole. He was out of the shackle in seconds and Alex allowed himself a small smile at the victory. One point Rider…

He should have known better than to tempt fate, for seconds later a masked man walked into the room.

**As always, Review. To everyone who did review, you are my heroes. Quick question- do you guys like it when I post replies to reviews privately, or would you like them at the end of the following chapters?**


	7. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: as much as you may love me (or hate me) I do not own this. When I do own a piece of writing of my own I will inform you...

On to the story!

* * *

><p>"Hello Alex." The man was thin, but his muscles were easily visible through his T-shirt. He was about 6'1 by Alex's estimation and from what he could see, the man had light brown hair with a few blond streaks.<p>

"What do you want?" Alex asked coldly. Criminals were so mundane to Alex at this point that he didn't even feel the small thrill of fear that he used to get when he ended up in these situations. Plus, it obviously wasn't Scorpia, which basically computed for Alex as not worthy of fear anyway

"To make a statement of course!" the man told him. Alex decided the man had way too much maniacal energy. He had an insane gleam to his eyes that Alex remembered from when Cray made him play the real version of Gameslayer.

"Do you have any idea who you are messing with?" Alex warned. "Because I'm beginning to think your boss must have forgotten to tell you." Despite being sure it wasn't Scorpia, this sure felt like the work of an organization. The attack on the house was to well executed for it to be a common criminal.

The man brought out a knife, "I'm going to make you scream."

Alex actually laughed, "Good luck." How many times had he heard that?

"So Alex... I never did manage to get your full name. My last sighting of you was too brief. I know who you are of course, but I'd like you to tell me."

"Er... no." Alex told him. "I've survived the world's best torturer. You don't scare me. Plus, dying doesn't sound so bad, so threatening to kill me or injuring me is useless."

The man laughed, "So imaginative. Now, let's get started. For our first our hour together we'll be playing with knives."

"Didn't your mum ever tell you not to play with knives?" Alex asked him, backing up towards the shelves, so that he could pull himself to his feet. He might have been stronger, but he was not strong enough to pull himself to his feet without help from his position.

He didn't make it before the man was on him. The man pinned Alex to the ground, taking out a syringe and plunging it into Alex's neck. Again.

Alex knocked the bigger man off of him, flipping on top of him, getting a few well aimed punches to the man's face before a wave of dizziness washed over him. The man rolled

Alex off of him angrily, "You'll pay for that. In a few minutes you won't have the strength to struggle. I invented this drug specifically to incapacitate my victims. Don't worry, you'll still be able to scream."

Alex tried to throw a punch at the man, but found that his arms were too heavy to lift. Now he realized what the man had meant. Suddenly he found that this was one mercy that Scorpia had previously granted him. They had never drugged him so that he couldn't control his own body. Tied him up so it didn't matter, yes, but not this.

"What did you do to me?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me your name."  
>Swearing in Russian, Alex glared at his captor as the bastard cut off his shirt, displaying the multitude of marks that he had shown to so few people.<p>

The man's eyes filled with a sort of reverent look as he took in the obvious signs of torture. "So you really have had experience with this... That will make this so much more fun."

"Just leave me alone!" Alex snapped. "That's all I fucking want! I just want to go to school and be a normal fucking kid! Is that too much to ask? I don't even know who you are.

What did I do to you?" The ever present question that was his life. Surely he must have done something in a past life to deserve a life forged in Hell.

"Nothing at all," The man said, giving Alex a curious look. "I'm just in it for the game."

ARNCIS ARNCIS

Gibbs and the team (minus Tony) waited until the designated time before opening the link.

They were greeted by the sight of Alex lying completely still on a concrete floor. About thirty seconds later Alex woke up and peered around the room before his gaze landed on the chain that was attached to his ankle. They couldn't see his face, but Gibbs felt sure from his body language that the SEAL was not happy.

They were all reasonably stunned when he pick locked the shackle in only moments. they saw a smile briefly ghost across his profile before it morphed into frustration as a man walked into the picture.

"What do you want?" Alex had asked the man, his anger tingeing his voice.

"To make a statement of course."

"Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?" Alex said sharply.

The team exchanged looks, all wondering who it was they were dealing with. They were all reasonably sure that Alex was hiding a lot of details from them.

They tuned back in when the kidnapper told Alex he would make him scream.

The boy proceeded to taunt the man with a knife!

They heard him talk about wanting to be a normal kid and that seemed like the final confirmation for the team. Alex Porter was a fairy tale. They needed to find out who this kid really was- after they rescued him of course.

Abby, for her part, was taking notes on what the drug was doing to Alex so she could try and figure out what it was. She was sure that it could hold the answer.

Then they all watched as Alex's shirt was cut off and they realized exactly what Alex had been through previously. Abby ran out of her lab crying as the others tried to take it all in. She couldn't take seeing the apathy in the SEAL's eyes behind his steel mask as the blade sliced into him.

The masked man suddenly dragged his blade down Alex's chest, watching as the blood welled as it passed.

Alex didn't so much as twitch until the man spoke again, "What's with the scorpion tattoo?"

Alex's eyes brightened visibly, "You really don't know who I am, do you?" He sounded extremely relieved.

The man ripped the blade down Alex's arm harshly, "Of course I do!"

"If you had any idea who I was you would know what that damn Scorpion stood for. I thought almost everyone in the criminal world knew. Goodness knows I've shut enough of it down to have such a well known reputation. If you don't mind me asking, why did you kidnap me?"

The man looked angry and Alex hurried on.

"I mean, it was masterfully pulled off. I was wondering why you chose me. It's obvious you could have gotten to much more powerful people."

Mollified, the man decided to answer, "See that camera? The game I play is with your little NCIS team. When I saw you on my spycam I knew that taking you would be the perfect way to show them that I had all the power."

Alex's face paled, "Wait... are they... watching this?"

"I would be severely disappointed if they weren't."

Alex closed his eyes in frustration, "Just once! Just once I want to keep my fucking cover and every time some fucking mad man fucks it up!"

The rage reappeared in his captor's eyes and he continued cutting into Alex's scared chest, avoiding the scorpion tattoo for some reason.

Gibbs looked at McGee, "Any luck tracing it?"

"Not yet boss. He's bouncing his signals across over twenty different countries. It's going to take a while if I can crack it at all."

"That's not good enough!" Gibbs snapped, worried for the boy, even if he had lied to him this entire time.

"Ziva, do you have any idea what the significance of the scorpion is?" Gibbs asked the ex-Mossad agent. So far she hadn't said a word.

"Scorpia," She said quietly, still watching the screen. "That particular scorpion is their emblem. Most of their agents have a small version of it on their ankles. The one on his chest though… it's a branding. They've marked him for dead. The only time we find that branding is on agents that we sent to infiltrate them. They've all come back in body bags."

The man continued cutting up Alex for another half hour before turning to face the camera, "An hour has passes. Here's my clue: I'm within sixty miles." He pulled out a small remote and the feed went dead.


	8. Chapter 7

**I DO NOT OWN THIS. THE PERSON WHO OWNS THIS MAKES FAR MORE MONEY THAN I DO!**

"Find him!" Gibbs barked at his team. He exited Abby's lab, giving Abby a short order to go back to her lab and help find Alex as he walked passed her scared person.

Gibbs went up to MTAC and pulled on the headset, telling the techies to call up the British contact that had been left for them to contact.

The comlink was almost instantly accepted.

"NCIS," Ben Daniels looked harried on the screen.

"We have a situation with Alex Porter," Gibbs stated without preamble.

Ben leaned back, " What did he do this time?"

"Someone who was after my team attacked my home while Alex and his four guards were there. The guards were killed and Alex was captured."

Ben's face lost the frustrated look to give way to slight panic, "What?! We sent him to you all for protection! You all got him captured already?"  
>Gibbs eyes narrowed, "This happens often then?"<p>

Ben growled, "That boy has a pension for trouble. We should have just sent him to the SAS."

"What is his involvement with Scorpia?" Gibbs asked shortly.

Ben looked like he'd been smacked, "Why?"

"We have a link to the kidnapper that we are attempting to trace. For about an hour we had video of the kidnapper cutting into the boy and one of my team recognized a branding of sorts on his chest."

"He's the reason for it's fall from grace over the past few years. They have a personal vendetta against him, and him against it. His last encounter with Scorpia put him into a coma. Before that they tortured him for several months before the SAS managed to extract him."

"Is that who we are protecting him from?"

"That's who you were protecting him from. When he escapes I'm relocating him. I thought you guys were able to keep your people safe."

Gibbs glowered, "We had a four man team on him. No one should have been able to get past them."

"It obviously wasn't enough!" Ben snapped. He was typing away on his keyboard, "Alright, I've got a general location on him, but it's somewhat scattered. He's in Georgetown, in the business district."

Gibbs stared at him for a few seconds, "How did you know that?"

"He was still wearing his watch, right?"

"Yes..."

"It's equipped with a tracker. How about his earring?"

Gibbs gave a curt nod.

"Then he has the means to escape. How's his leg? I'm sure he's out of the wheelchair at this point."

"He's on crutches. The problem will be getting up, since he's still pretty weak. Also, his stamina is very low."

"Go search Georgetown for him. When you find him, tell him I'm going to kickhis ass when he gets home."

"You still haven't given me your name."

"Just tell him it's Ben. He'll know." The British soldier-spy signed off.  
>Gibbs growled something indiscernible under his breath as he hurried back to Abby's lab to gather his team. On his way down he grabbed Director Vance, "I've got a lead, but I'm going to need more people to follow up on it." Then he continued down, ignoring Vance's indignant remarks about how he was the boss and not Gibbs.<p>

"We've got a lead," Gibbs walked into the lab. "We're going to Georgetown's business sector. He appears to be in an old vault of some sort, so start with closed down banks or large cash businesses."

Abby began typing as soon as Gibbs finished the list of places, "There are four closed down banks that have vaults with the same dimensions as the one Alex is being held in. There's fifteen closed down businesses with the same sized vaults as well."

"Give us the addresses," Gibbs ordered. "Cafpow's in the fridge."  
>The team rushed to grab their stuff before heading for the elevator.<p>

They were surprised when Gibbs didn't follow immediately. Instead he turned to look at the other agents in the office.

"All of you get ready. Each team will be going to several of the addresses found by Abby. You're looking for a SEAL by the name of Alex Porter. He's being held in some sort of vault."

Abby came running in with copies of the list of addresses and Gibbs passed them out, assigning addresses to each of the teams.

"When you find him, do not engage unless necessary. Call my team, and we'll come. The kidnapper is violent. Do not be taken unaware."

They all nodded, grabbing their gear. Each of the agents pulled out their guns, checking to make sure their clips were full.

"Good luck."

ARNCIS

Alex hated being a prisoner, but he had enough experience with it that he knew how to exploit any sort of opportunity presented to him. Unfortunately he was rather limited by his leg this time. Still, he would be able to escape if the man would leave for just a few moments. If he could regain his feet, freeing himself would be easy.

The man stared at Alex for a few minutes before Alex got frustrated, "You got a name? Calling you 'Mad Man' in my head is too general. I was thinking of calling you 12."

12's eye twitched, "You can call me Bane."

"Comic book fan?" Alex snorted. Of course he would get captured by a crazy man who had seen the Batman movie a few months ago.

Bane sneered, "First thing that popped in my head. Now, sit tight. I'll be back in an hour."

"I'm claustrophobic."

"All the better." He left.

Alex smiled grimly and pushed himself against the shelves again and hauled himself upright. Standing still for a few moments as he regained his equilibrium, he fingered his earring nervously. He shifted his weight onto his injured leg, ensuring that it would support him.

It held and Alex gave a small grin. He took out the earring and very carefully tossed it into the farthest corner from himself.

Boom!

The explosive went off, sending shrapnel flying away from Alex's direction, leaving him to only be hit by the shockwave. Remaining on his feet, he quickly limped out of the solid metal cell through the four foot hole that h had blasted through the wall. He saw Bane running towards him, having obviously heard the blast. Alex grinned at the man, "That's game over, Bane."

Bane stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the injured boy. Suddenly he shrugged and turned on his tail, running for what was presumably the exit. Alex sighed, realizing that he was going to have to track the guy down now.

"Damn psychopaths." He limped out the exit, conscious of the fact that his shirt was off. Snarling at the situation, he crossed his arms over his chest, covering up the branding. He glanced around hopefully for a cab, or even a cop. Either would be able to get him where he needed to go.

He had walked two blocks before he saw a pair of vaguely familiar people breaking into what was once obviously a bank. NCIS agents- specifically the green one who had babysat Alex a few weeks earlier and his partner.

"Hey!" Alex yelled, grabbing their attention.

They spun around, guns drawn before the green kid recognized him. "Morris! that's the SEAL we're trying to find."

"Where's your shirt kid?" asked the older of the two agents. Obviously Morris.

"Cotten doesn't hold up well against knives. Can I borrow yours?"

Morris looked offended. "You'll get blood on it!"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Look, it's either your shirt, the kids shirt, or I get shot within the next fifteen minutes."

Morris didn't seem to believe him. "Get in the car. I'll call Gibbs."

"Hey, kid, can I borrow your phone? I need to call my brother before he has a panic attack. He thinks since I'm off duty I should be safe, so if your boss called him, I need to talk to him before he flies out here."

"My name's Frank Darrow." He handed over the phone. "And I''m older than you."

Alex dialed Ben's number. "It's life experiences that matter, trust me. Oh! Hey Ben! Yeah, the earring. Yes I'm fine. No, you're not relocating me. I trust Gibbs's team to keep me alive. No, it wasn't him who got me into this mess. Damn it Ben! You're not my fucking father. I can make my own choices about my life. Don't you dare! Ben! Ben!" Alex angrily ended the call. "Damn it!"

Darrow raised an eyebrow, "Brother being difficult?"

Alex snorted. "That's one way of putting it."

Morris finished his phone call, "Gibbs says for us to get the address of the place you were being held."

Alex frowned. "I'd rather not. It will lead to unnecessary questions."

"What about the perpetrator? Where's he?"

"Ran away. I didn't make a great impression on him."

"We need to find the-"

Alex rolled suddenly to the ground as a bang was heard, before diving for the car. "Fine! I'll tell you as soon as we're on the road!"

He pulled himself into the car, once more cursing his leg. The other two hurried into the car as well, keeping themselves as small as possible.

Alex growled under his breath, muttering about stupid navy cops. Once they had been on the road for ten minutes, Morris barked at Alex for the address.

"1425 M street. God, my head hurts. Never blow up a solid steel box when you're inside it Darrow. It's not a good idea."

The agent snorted. "Obviously."

Alex shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it let you all find me, didn't it?"

Darrow stared at him. "How'd you manage to blow it up?"

Alex smirked. "Trade secret."

"Damn SEAL's!"

Alex smirked even more at the assumption.

ARNCIS

"Alex!" Abby barreled into him as soon as he made it into headquarters.

"Abby, you're getting blood on your pretty clothes." Alex informed her, disengaging himself."

"Oh, God! You're hurt!"

"Porter-"

"Look, can I have a shirt before your interrogation Gibbs?"

Tony pulled off his shirt and tossed it to Alex, who caught it in one hand and pulled it over his head before collapsing into Gibbs's chair. "Any of you guys got my crutches?"

"What do you have to do with Scorpia?"

"What was in that note?" Alex retorted sharply.

"I'm asking the questions."

"And I care why?"

"Four men just died trying to protect you!"

Alex flinched. "I'm sorry. Maybe Ben's right. I should relocate. You all are in too much danger now."

"If you told us what the actual threat was against you, we'd be able to properly defend you."

Alex leaned forward, "You really want to know who's after my Leroy?"

**Review! Make it worth it for me to write. All of you who did review, Thanks x1,000,000! Hopefully I'll past next weekend.**

**PS- reviews might dictate update. in fact, if I get ten new reviews, I'll post early!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Here it is early! **

**Bookworn2340, I agree. You guys do deserve it early for me not posting. I hope this goes towards making it up to you all.**

Alex leaned forward, "You really want to know who's after my Leroy?" Receiving a nod, Alex continued, chuckling darkly, "Alright. Scorpia, Chinese Triads, several Snakehead organizations, al qaeda, the IRA, Some Neo nazi organizations, among hundreds of other organizations that would like nothing better than to claim the bounty on my head."

Gibbs recoiled, "You're not a regular SEAL, are you?"

Alex laughed, "SEAL training was where I was sent while I was suffering from PTSD. They said since I was too dangerous to have out in the field, that I'd benefit from some extra training. It actually did help, though I deprived the rest of my unit of sleep for the first three months of training."

"Who are you really?"

Alex shrugged, "Alex Porter."

"Try again."

"Classified."

"Not going to accept that."

Alex through up his hands, "There's nothing more I can tell you! Look, if you really want answers, go through your British contact. He might be able to grant you access, but it may come at the price of your team."

Ducky, the coroner came towards them, "Ah! Jethro! I called a friend of mine in England and got that information you wanted." He looked like he was going to say more when he caught sight if Alex.

Gibbs looked between the coroner and Alex. "Ducky, would you take a look at Porter? He was tortured a few hours ago."

Alex glared, "No thanks. Medical history restricted. I've read in that little doctor at the hospital. If I need to, which I don't, I'll go see her."

Gibbs glared at the boy, 'You've already soaked through Dinozzo's shirt. Pick. Either the hospital or Ducky."

Alex scowled, "God, maybe you're the older, wiser version of Wolf. he makes the same threat."

"No diverting. Pick."

"Definitely wiser. Alright, the hospital. But I'm not staying longer than it takes to get my injuries wrapped!"

Gibbs frowned, but led Alex back down to the car, not commenting on the blood that Alex was getting on the seats. They reached the hospital in a timely manner, with only one cop tailing them the entire way. Alex got out of the car gingerly, wary of doing further damage to his leg.

Immediately, he was swarmed by doctors as they took in the sight of his blood stained shirt. Alex groaned at the attention, "Where's Dr. Carson?"

The woman shouldered her way through the other doctors. "Mr. Porter! What are you doing back- What did you do to yourself?"

Alex scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm in protective custody for a reason?"

She ushered him into a room and ordered him to take off his shirt. She stifled a gasp. "What happened?"

"Mad man. They're all shallow, surface injuries. Can you just bind them and I'll get out of your hair?"

She bristled. "Absolutely not! you need serious medical attention."

"What I need is a prescription refill."

"Of what?"

"Oxicodon. My doctors in Britain prescribed it, but I can't get more with my ID, since the names wouldn't match."

"I can't help you there." She cleaned and bandaged the cuts on his torso. "Do you have another shirt?"

Alex shook his head.

Dr. Carson sighed, "I'll be back in a few minutes with a t-shirt for you."

"Thanks."

ARNCIS

Gibbs had been glaring at Alex for the past four hours, quietly replaying the video in his mind for details of the boy's hidden life.

"So, when do you graduate? AP exams are coming up, aren't they?"

"AP exams?" Alex repeated, lost.

"Advanced placement. College level courses."

"Oh, GSE's? They're in three weeks."

"What courses are you taking?"

"I was taking ten before I was sent here." Alex fiddled with his dinner, his mind not on the current conversation. Instead, it was on the note that was still being concealed from him. "That note had something to do with my kidnapping, did it not?"

Gibbs shrugged noncommittally, "It was sent by the perpetrator. Why are you so interested in it?"

"He's not working alone. I can't tell you how I know, but I do. If he shares that footage of me with anyone in the espionage or criminal world, your house will become a certifiable war zone."

"You're afraid."

"I'm realistic."

"Expecting an attack at every turn is not realistic."

"How many times have I been attacked since I arrived on American soil? The airport, the bomb, your home and getting tortured, and finally getting shot at after finding your agents. It's not exactly unrealistic."

"How old are you, really?"

Alex stiffened. "I'm pretty sure I already told you I was twenty."

"You also told me you were still in high school."

"No I didn't," Alex denied instantly.

"You told me you were taking ten classes and GS somethings were in three weeks."

"I need to make a phone call."

"To who?"

"Ben. He's going to kill me." Alex shuddered. "Actually, his entire fucking unit is going to tag-team me and kill me together."

"Language," Gibbs interjected instinctively.

"Tú hablas español?"

Gibbs glared, "Don't mess with me kid. I think its time you told me what's really going on."

Anger sparked in Alex's eyes. "Think less. You'll hurt yourself thinking too hard, you know?"

"Kid-"

"You want to know so bad, we need to take a ride. I'll drive." Alex snatched the keys off the table between them.

Gibbs quickly plucked them out of Alex's hands, "You are on pain medications, are you-"

Alex's eyes widened, "Oh, shit!"

"What?"

"My meds! I must have lost them in the attack!"

"Surely it's not that big a deal."

"It's got my real name on it. My name. The one that terrorists all over the world are watching for!"

"Where are we driving to?"

Alex rattled off an address and Gibbs stared at him. "Fornel? You're taking me to see Fornel?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess the two of you know each other?" He sighed, closing his eyes for a few moments. "This is going to suck."

**Review! If you don't I will be one dispirited writer. TZhanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry for any typos/mistakes. I did have to write this very quickly!**


	10. Chapter 9

**I do not own this- however much I wish I did...**

**Also, sorry about how short the chapter is, but by updating early I lost my buffer zone, so It's not all my fault...**

**To recap: Alex's school gets attacked and Alex goes into a coma. He wakes up and is shipped off to NCIS for protection. He meets Dave at a crime scene that has a note that Alex really wants to read. Alex's paranoia means he gets really good food. Alex, Abby, and Gibbs almost get blown up and Alex is back in the hospital. He tells the doctor some of the truth and he is told his leg is good enough to walk on WITH CRUTCHES. Alex gets kidnapped by the 'Card Dealer' and he tortures Alex. Alex escapes thanks to Smither's earring. Gibbs decides its time for Alex to spill what's going on...**

Ten minutes later they were knocking on Fornel's door. The door was opened by a kid who appeared to be eighteen. "Hey Gibbs, who's the kid."

"SEAL, not kid," Alex told the boy. "I need to talk to your dad."

"He's not working today."

"Tell your father that if he doesn't get out here in forty-three seconds Cub is calling his boss."

The boy glared, but did as directed. Fifteen seconds later Fornel barreled down the stairs. "Rider! What the fu- he- heck are you doing at my home?"

Alex raised an eyebrow, "I need the necessary papers and clearance to tell Gibbs and his team my status."

"And you came here? I have a family kid! You're putting them in danger."

"And I'm about to create a war zone in your city if you don't fucking help me!" Alex hissed.

"Alex Rider?" Gibbs interrupted Fornel's sputtering. "I've heard that name before."

"Probably David (A/N and in Ziva David. Is there another spelling?). She's Mossad, and we've worked together on several occasions."

"You worked with Ziva?"

Alex frowned. "Sorry, no. I did work with her brother until he tried to shoot- What's wrong?"

"Assuming you are talking about Ari, he shot and killed one of the members of Gibbs's team."

"That was his name? Eli wouldn't tell me."

"Maybe he didn't want the boy to die," Fornel answered sullenly.

Alex smirked. "Do you have the papers or not?"

Scowling, he gestured for them to come in. "Damn spies."

"Government bastard," Alex retorted lightly.

"Brynn sends his love."

"Would you give him a poisonous spider in return?"

"My family's here Rider!"

"Then stop calling me that. I'm Alex Porter."

"Like you were during your stint with the SEAL's."

"Yeah. Any idea what was said about my disappearance in Afghanistan?"

"Injury that took you out of action and on a plane bound straight for Britain."

"So, complete and utter bullshit? Well, it will make talking to Dave on Thursday easier." He thought about his SEAL team for a while, wondering if John, their resident genius had hacked his file.

Fornel went into his office and came back with a large stack of papers, "Now will you get out of here?"

Alex nodded. "Sorry about coming here. Hopefully I won't need to come again."

"Good!"

ARNCIS

"Sign here, here, here, here, here..." Alex instructed the team of the dozens of places they needed to sign in order for them to hear his story. Once they were finished Alex smirked. "You just swore eternal silence on anything related to me, the organizations I've worked for, and a document saying any bodily harm dealt to me ends with you in an MI6 interrogation room automatically. Even your president couldn't stop you from getting taken."

Ziva and Gibbs both looked livid.

McGee, however nodded. "I'll start. Who the hell are you?"

"Alex John Rider."

"Who do you work for?" Ziva put in sharply.

"Who haven't I worked for?"

"Are you even British?" she asked testily.

"Yes. Can we fast forward to the answers you actually wanted when you requested to know?"

Gibbs tossed Alex Porter's file at him. "Who was Porter?"

"My alias from my days as a SEAL."

"Are you even a real SEAL?"

"I have completed training and undertaken several SEAL missions, so, yeah. I most certainly am."

"Why did you really leave Afghanistan?"

Alex flinched. "Nothing you need to know about."

"I want an answer!" Gibbs slammed his fist against the table.

"I was captured, alright? My commander walked into barracks to find a piece of stationary with a silver scorpion and dried blood. I was already long gone, and the rest of my unit had been drugged."

"Your friend Dave is one of them?"

Alex glared. "I agreed to give you information on my circumstances, not my personal life."

"How old are you?" Ziva asked.

Another flinch. "Sixteen."

Tony looked excited suddenly. "You're a teenaged spy?"

"Blackmail victim, more like," Alex muttered too quietly for them to hear.

"Why lie about that?"

"You would have figured out everything to begin with if you new my age to begin with. No way a SEAL is sixteen years old more than six months."

Tony folded his arms over his chest. "I don't believe you."

"Ms. David here worked for Mossad and was part of my uncles retrieval squad three years ago when he was working in Iran. His name was Ian Rider."

Ziva's eyes widened. "You're related to the Riders? They're famous."

Alex snorted. "For my case, I'd go with infamous. I'm pretty sure that even my father didn't have as many enemies as me."

"Wait, Ian died last year," Ziva said.

Alex ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he could just run away now and not tell them anything. This was getting uncomfortably personal. He hated personal.

**Really short, not very well written chapter. My apologies. Please revview. You know how much I love reviews. Oh, and question: shorter chapters (more regular updates) or longer chapters (these obviously take longer to write)?**

**Review or I'll never forgive you. Ever.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Correction- Ian died two years ago. Thanks for pointing that out. **

**I do not own AR or NCIS. I do however own you. Now bow!**

Alex decided that he could run away and avoid it for now, but in the long run, he would just drag it out. "Look, Ian is a bit of a sore subject for me, alright? MI6 and i have a love-hate relationship. I love to hate them, and some of them hate to love that I work for them. If I thought I could get away with it, I would blow the entire organization sky high."

Ziva looked unhappy with that. "You would betray your own country that way?"

Alex shrugged. "They betrayed me first. I'm a patriot, not a martyr. I'd like to live to see my majority. Spending my entire life working for someone I tried to kill and someone I'd like to kill is not my idea of fun."

"Where are your parents in all this?" McGee asked quietly.

At this, Alex stood up. "Look, my personal life is going to remain just that- personal! Stop asking me about it if you want answers. What I tell you is entirely up to me at this point."

"Sit down, Port- Rider," Gibbs ordered.

Alex walked towards the door. "I'm not going to sit here and have my life examined." He yanked the door open and headed for Abby's temporary lab.

"Hey Abby," Alex greeted.

"Alex! How are you feeling?"

Alex answered with a half truth. "I'm tired Abby. I want this to be over. I want to go home."

Abby gave him a hug. "I'm sure it won't be long."

Alex sighed, taking a seat in the corner of the lab. "Even after this is over I don't get to go home Abs. I'll just get sent somewhere else. Some other dangerous situation."

Abby frowned. "Alex, surely it's not all bad?"

"Type in Alex Rider on your computer followed by Alpha zooloo niner beta.

She did so with a curious glance at Alex.

"Before you open this file, I need you to swear not to tell anyone. Not even Gibbs."

Abby stopped sharply. "Alex-"

"They want to know about my life, and the keep prying. I won't stand for it. I trust you though. You can tell them if I die or if I'm sent back to England, but only then."

"You're not going to die."

"Everyone dies at some point."

"Don't say that!"

"Abby, I'm realistic. I have more enemies than many entire governments have. I've been captured and tortured more than any other living agent, and I'm not even out of... Er, you guys call it high school over here, right?"

"Yes?" she was reeling. If he was still in high school than that meant that he was still a teenager. That meant that he was still a kid, meaning that a child had been tortured.

"Will you swear not to tell your team?"

She nodded.

"Thank you. Please remember, this shows me at my best and my worst. My worst is really bad."

She started reading the virtual file, becoming more and more engrossed in the story. She began to forget it was someone's life, not just a fictional story.

That is, until she got to Scorpia.

"Oh my God! You joined a terrorist group! You're a terrorist! Stay right here while I call security."

"Finish reading the file Abby. If you'd like, I'll leave."

"You can't leave! You could hurt Gibbs! Or Tony, Ziva, and McGee! Actually, not Ziva...I've got some duck tape in the desk."

Alex sighed. "Alright. Do what you need to."

She brought out gorilla duct tape (pink) and taped Alex to a chair, never really considering that if he were a terrorist, he would never have allowed her to tie him up.

She continued reading, reacting expressively to everything she read. By the time she finished, she was overwrought with emotion. "Oh, God! Alex! Are you okay? That's awful! Was everyone else okay?"

Alex smiled at her from where he was tied. "Yes. Everyone was okay, though some are likely receiving therapy."

"Did you get any therapy?"

"I don't like therapists. The last five I've gone to have quit within one session, and I come out even worse than I was before them. Can you untie me now?"

Abby looked at him surprise. "Oh!" She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the tape off.

Alex smiled lightly. "Thanks for understanding, Abby. It means more than I could possibly tell you."

"I'm sorry about your guardian."

Alex's smile disappeared instantly. "You'd have liked her. She was a lot like you, but with a temper to match her red hair."

Gibbs came down the stairs. "Abby, have you seen Port- Why are you covered in tape?"

"A wonderful question. I'll answer when I can trust you to stop prying into my life." Alex gave Abby a hug, whispering something in her ear.

Gibbs, however, was staring at the computer screen. "What's this?"

**In the hopes that you all don't kill me, I'mposting this now. Yes, I know I hven't updated in a while despite my intent to update frequently. I blame school...**

**My apologies.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	12. Chapter 11

**I do not own AR or NCIS. I apologize for the shortness of the chapter, but Ifelt bad about not updating.**

Alex paled and lunged for the mouse, closing the window. "Nothing for your eyes, Gibbs." He gave Abby a warning glare, before fixing his attention solely on Gibbs. "Look, I really don't want to talk to you right now. For both your safety and my sanity, would you please back off?"

"You still haven't even told us who we are defending you from! Or why you are are being hunted in the first place, for that matter."

"You should have asked that before you started prying into my personal life even after I warned you. I owe your damn country nothing, but they owe me a hell of a lot, so I'd consider your next words carefully."

Gibbs gave Alex a cool look. "Are you threatening me?"

"Ummm, Yes. I am. Any complaints? I've been told I'm quite good at it. If you have any pointers though, they would be welcome."

Gibbs was beginning to seriously hate this kid. Where did he get this stuff? And he just radiated danger. If Gibbs had any say in this, the spy would tell him everything.

Alex watched the wariness enter Gibbs's eyes, and he sighed. He couldn't count the number of times he had been sent into a situation without any idea what to look for, so he relented slightly. "The main terrorist group, and the most dangerous, after me is Scorpia. If they catch me, they will not kill me. They will capture and torture me until I either give them the information they want, or I die. They prefer the information before killing though, so they keep suicide watches on high profile prisoners, of which I would be the highest. Do you understand what you are dealing with now?"

Gibbs could only watch as Alex stormed out. He watched him go before turning to Abby. "I've never heard of Scorpia."

**Really, Really Short. Please review. I mean it.**

**Also, Shameless self promotion- I'm writing a Star trek fic based on the 2009 movie's version of Captain Kirk, during the academy. Very, Very dark (though not yet). Please check it out and review. **


	13. Chapter 12

**I do not own AR or NCIS, nor will I ever. On to the show.**

"Ziva, McGee, Dinozzo!" Gibbs looked worried. "Where's Porter?"

Dinozzo shrugged. "Dunno. Last I saw him he was running towards Abby's lab."

Gibbs frowned. "We need to find him."

"Gibbs?"

"Apparently Scorpia is one of the groups after him. Actually, he implied that they were the main group after him, but that they won't kill him."

Ziva suppressed a shudder. "They want him that badly? Usually they don't take prisoners."

Gibbs fully intended to get everything on Scorpia from Ziva as soon as they were done with their case. He was about to ask her to start pulling the information together when Alex strode into the room.

"Normally they haven't been destroyed by a fourteen year old. Normally their victims don't have parents that were involved with them. Unfortunately, I'm not usual. They've wanted me dead since before before I knew MI6 went beyond James Bond."

"Are you going to tell us how you pissed them off?" Tony sounded excited. Alex however scowled at the man.

"Do you think this is a bloody movie, where the characters escape with a smack on the wrist and save the world? I always forget how naive cops and military are."

The team, minus Ziva bristled. Ziva simply snorted. "They are a lot more world wise than you might believe, though they do not know what it is like to spy."

"Fornell mentioned something about Ari-"

Everyone flinched, and Ziva whispered that she had shot him.

Alex smiled grimly. "Good. Saves me the trouble. You never know when I'll be dealing with Mossad again. Ari nearly framed me for a triple homicide. We were not friends."

He didn't mention that they had met in Malagasto. That was information he wanted to keep to himself. Belatedly, he realized he should have given Abby the high ranking civilian file. It omitted certain details that had gotten him duck taped to a chair.

"Do me a favor, Ziva. When you talk to your father, don't mention me. I'm not a great fan of deserts, even if you do have wonderful fruit."

Alex absently rubbed his leg. He was walking easily enough, but it was still bothersome. His other wounds were all fine, with just occasional twinges. The new knife wounds were extremely easily ignored. "You made any more progress with the case? that kidnapper of yours, he's quite the character."

"Did you forget he tortured you?"

Alex waved it off. "Been there, done that. He does have a medical background though, now that you mention it. Probably some military training, though I would say he wasn't ever over seas, so reserves or new."

"Why do you think he has medical training?"

"The cuts he made were specifically targeted on pain sensitive places that didn't bleed much. That requires an intimate knowledge of the human body."

"And how do you know this?"

"I picked it up through experience." Alex jumped up suddenly, looking alarmed. "Do you guys see him?" Alex was pointing out the window at a person climbing out of a car.

"Civilian, married. He has at least one child, most likely a boy of about seven. He is here in an official capacity, probably a lawyer."

They all stared at him, their expressions blank.

Tony looked back and forth between the man in the parking lot and the spy standing next to him. "There's no way."

"We'll know in a few minutes." Gibbs watched Alex carefully. "You should go into law enforcement."

"Already illegally employed, thank you very much. Still, it would be a much more rewarding job than spying."

"We have a lot of cases go cold. It's not always rewarding."

"Look, I've stopped so many terrorists and seen so much death- I have caused so much death. There's no satisfaction in destroying them. I feel like I cause more pain than relief."

"How many people have you killed?"

"Directly, or actual total?"

"Let's hear both."

"I've shot one person in cold blood. He murdered my guardian. Indirectly, I can't even guess. I've blown up more compounds than I can count and led raids into many others. Raids have also been organized to get me, either to kidnap me or rescue me. Hundreds, maybe thousands have died because of me. Yeah, most of them were killers themselves, but it doesn't make a difference. Their blood is on my hands, and no one will even admit that because I'm their perfect weapon and a child." He spat the last word as the elevator doors opened to reveal the man from the parking lot.

Alex stood and walked over to the man, his face schooled into one of professionalism. "Excuse me, Sir. May I inquire what you are doing here this fine afternoon?"

The man looked affronted by Alex's question. "What's it to you?"

"I am running a survey on this building as to why people come. It's for a college paper, see?"

The man relaxed. "I a here on official business. A client of mine has been arrested, and I am here to make sure that he is handled properly by the authorities."

"So you're a lawyer?"

The man nodded.

"One moe question. You're not required to answer, but I would appreciate if you did. Do you have any children?"

The man looked unsure, but the boy seemed genuine. "I have a son in second grade."

"Thank you, Sir. I appreciate you lending me some of your time."

"It was no problem. Now if you'll excuse me?" He walked off towards the interrogation rooms.

Alex turned to Gibbs's team. "Like I said, my kidnapper has medical training."

**A bit of filler, but Alex told a bit more about himself, yet told them nothing that other spies wouldn't be familiar with...**

**Check out my Star Trek fic if you're interested.**

**Review, thanks.**


	14. Chapter 13

**I do not own AR or NCIS... I probably don't even own the plot, but then again, I'm pretty sure if you really looked at any authors work in the last century, you could trace it to another author's plot...**

**Onto the story...**

Ziva eyed the boy with newfound respect. He had a confidence that seemed to exude arrogance, but she was nearly sure that he was covering up his own fear. He plopped down in Gibbs's chair and stared at the group. "Pop quiz, Ms. David. Where is your father currently sending most of his agents?"

Ziva's respect evaporated instantly. "That is classified information."

"But what sort of spy would you be if you didn't know it anyway? Our jobs are to take classified information back to various people."

"Agent Gibbs, a letter just arrived for you."

Gibbs took it and opened it. He was silent for a few moments before he gave Harry a piercing look. "It says that we are to turn you over to Scorpia, or they'll air your picture all over the news, along with a list of any and all of your past associates, as well as a list of the locations of every agency you've ever worked with."

Alex flinched visibly. Really, he didn't believe his luck could get any worse. "Let me see it please." Gibbs handed it over, and Alex paled significantly more as he got to the bottom of the letter. "Oh, no way in hell. I am not being tortured again! Screw that. I'm calling Ben."

"Perhaps you'd like to do it face to face?" Gibbs suggested.

Alex shrugged. "That would probably be best. I'll probably have to talk to my bosses too." He walked up to MTAC, letting the scanner see his eye. To everyone's surprise, the door swung open. "Please connect me to MI6, extension 442." The techies looked to Gibbs for confirmation before opening the link.

"Agent Daniels. What has Alex gotten into now?"

"Alex is being threatened by terrorists," Alex answered in third person with no small amount of irritation. "As I have no way of returning contact, I need you to extend a threat of our own. If they air any information on me, we air to the world who crippled their organization."

Ben's eyes widened. "That would destroy your life. Not even a fake identity would help you."

"The threat was to put my face and everyone I've ever fricking talked to on international news and to reveal the locations of every organization I've ever worked with." Alex paused here. "Hmmm, I wonder if Malagasto would be included. It would have to be, wouldn't it?"

Ben laughed nervously. "I highly doubt they would reveal that one. I'm assuming that your American contact gave your friends here papers?"

"Yes, they are bound by the OSA. When was the last time I overlooked that detail?"

"Two months ago to your school."

Alex winced. "Okay, let me rephrase. When was the last time I overlooked that detail when the information wasn't going to be spilled anyway?"

"Sabina Pleasure."

"Whose father was nearly blown up by Yassan, and was later kidnapped."

"Tom Harris."

Alex grinned slightly. "That was over a year and a half ago, and I needed his help. Remember, that was my first escape attempt from the company."

"And it turned out fabulously, didn't it?" Ben said with a slight sneer.

Alex glared. "Look, they would have ended up trying to take me out eventually, and you know it. Plus, the company kept sending me on suicide missions missions. Yassan gave his life to save me, and his dying words were that Mrs. Jones ordered my fathers death, so bugger off."

Two more people entered the comlink. "Agent Rider, why are you contacting us?"

"A threat has been made that I can't just hand off to the American government. I need it taken care of, because I am sure as hell not turning myself over to Dr. Three. I've spent more than enough time in his company, thanks."

"We do not have the resources-"

"Then get the damn resources, Blunt! It's your fault terrorists managed to infiltrate my damn school, making it impossible to stay in London."

"It's your fault Scorpia's after you in the first place."

Alex swore in Russian (definitely his favorite language for cursing) at the man. "I'm a bloody sixteen year old blackmail victim! You all weren't exactly good guys, were you? Next time don't withhold information about my family, and maybe I wouldn't have to go to the enemy to find out the truth."

"And that worked out so well for you," Blunt sneered. "All it accomplished was being fed more lies."

"I found out some interesting things about you and my father- over the past, oh, six months?- that I doubt you'd like advertised to all the people on this link."

The normally expressionless man paled slightly. "Fine. I will send your threat, but I doubt it will help your situation."

Alex smiled ferally. "Oh, it will. You see, Three gets quite talkative with his victims. I'm quite the sore spot with them. I have 'Sullied their reputation nearly beyond repair' without my age even being known." Scorn dripped from Alex's voice as he quoted the terrorist. "Though now that I think about it, they may put a bit more consideration into just putting a bullet in my head. That would make me slightly more comfortable than having to worry about being kidnapped."

**I am not sure how I feel about this chapter, but oh well... **

**Review please, and thanks to everyone who reviewed. I think I responded to everyone who said more than "I like it" and "Update soon." I love those too, but I'm only going to give a group thanks for those for time's sake.**

**REVIEW. It doesn't take long.**


	15. Chapter 14

**I do not own AR or NCIS. Do you?  
><strong>

**Chapter 14**

"Hey Dave."

"Alex!" Dave gave him a hug. "You look better. I was worried when you didn't show last week. If you hadn't contacted me I was going to call in the unit."

Alex winced dramatically. "Good thing I did then. It wouldn't do for you to draw more attention to me."

"Me draw attention to you?" Dave snickered. "I believe you do that all on your own. You got yourself into more gun fights than the rest of the unit put together. Man, you even won the scar competition."

Tony snorted. Yes, the entire team was there, 'guarding' Alex from the evil terrorists. "With the amount of scars that kid has, I'd be surprised if anyone in the SEALs beat-"

"Shut up, Tony," Alex snarled. Dave was giving Alex a curious look.

"You didn't have that many scars, just better stories. I mean, seriously! None of us can say they nearly got adopted by a Russian extremest and nearly died because of it."

"I really hate those rules for that game. There was a bloody reason I never showered with you guys. Man, I even took our swim tests with a shirt."

Dave grinned. "Do you know what this week is, Alex?" At Alex's shake of his head, Dave's grin grew. "The unit's in town and everyone's required to come."

Alex was stunned. He couldn't believe that they were here now of all times. He knew it would end with bring kidnapped by his unit if he tried to avoid it, which might end with his teammates getting shot by NCIS, but if he did go, bad things were sure to follow.

"Are you crazy?" Alex hissed. "I'm in protection for goodness sake! I can't go hang out and talk about classified missions in front of the Navy cops! One of them is ex-Mossad!"

Ziva gave an innocent look. "Alex, surely you know I'm not going to reveal anything. I have cut ties with Mossad."

Alex doubted that. Her father was the director of the organization, and if she didn't end up acting as liaison on occasion, he would eat his shoe. He didn't particularly like or trust Mossad after his last trip to Israel, which had ended with him fleeing the country with Ari chasing him, along with a fair portion of Mossad. He shivered slightly at the memory.

"We won't say anything classified in front of your keepers," Dave joked. "You know what will happen if you try and beg out."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You'll get yourselves shot trying to kidnap me?"

Dave's humor disappeared instantly. "Oh, right. Armed guards."

Gibbs was watching with no small amount of interest, and he saw an opportunity to learn more about the boy. "He can go, and only I will accompany him. I will also try to get clearance so that you can talk unfettered by confidentiality laws. I already signed the OS-"

"Alright Dave, I'll come," Alex said in exasperation, cutting Gibbs off hurriedly. "You just make sure they mind their own business, alright? And make sure they keep their mouths shut about me being here."

Dave nodded, so it was agreed that Gibbs would drive Alex to the naval base across from the Naval Academy. That was where the SEALs were staying.

ARNCIS

"Devil!" shouted a vaguely familiar voice. "I didn't believe Dave when he said you were coming. We haven't seen you in months." He looked behind Alex. "Who's the old man?"

"His keeper," Dave said, coming out of a room in the small barracks that had been reserved for the SEALs. "Todo, meet Agent Gibbs."

'Todo' grimaced at the name. "Stop calling me that! Why's Porter got an agent on him?"

Alex groaned, putting his head in his hands. "He's to stay with me until I go back to Britain. He's keeping people from shooting me. I'm in a bit of a tight spot because my brother in Britain got into some trouble with a small terrorist organization after he denied them funds or something."

The other six men in the room looked skeptical. "You have an escort because your banker brother got into trouble?"

Someone grabbed him by the waist from behind, and before he had even registered what had happened, Alex lashed out, elbowing the figure in the stomach and knocking him out with a blow to the head. When he realized what had happened, he groaned. "Ah, fuck."

Everyone stared at him. "You got PTSD again, Al?" The question was asked softly, as two people pulled the unconscious SEAL off the floor and carried him into another room.

Alex was angry though. "You all know better than to surprise me! He could have been seriously injured! And I don't have PTSD, I've just been shot at a lot this month, and I'm a little on edge!"

"Shot at is putting mildly," Gibbs inserted, making Alex glare at him.

"Everything else is actually on you and your team. Only the shootings had anything to do with me. The kidnapping was to get at you."

"How did someone manage to kidnap you? a SEAL, Ryan asked incredulously.

"I was wheelchair bound for a period of time," Alex admitted unhappily. On the bright side though, that meant that Dave hadn't gone telling tales which boded well.

All the soldiers paled. "Why were you in a wheel chair?"

"Err... classified?" Alex tried.

"He said the C word."

"Yep."

"Now he has to play again."

"He's going to try to run for it."

"I got hi- Damn it! He's gone."

Alex had fled the scene when he realized he had screwed up. He knew that they could not catch him or he would be in serious trouble. He could not explain certain things away. He could see Gibbs searching for him, and that was when he realized he had no choice. He couldn't just flee because of Gibbs. If anything happened to Alex, the man would likely find himself blacklisted, which is something Alex could not, in good conscience, ignore.

He walked back into the room where the soldiers instantly circled him so he couldn't escape. Alex growled in irritation. "Fine. Yes, I said the C word. What's the cost this time?"

"Full participation in the scar game."

Alex paled. "No. Pick something else."

"Sorry Alex. You know the rules. Shirt off, or one of us will do it for you."

Snarling angrily, Alex lashed out, trying to get out of the circle in order to flee. Unfortunately for Alex, they were all expecting it and they were fully trained SEALs in peak condition while he was still in recovery. Two of them grabbed him and another yanked Alex's shirt off.

Immediately all motion stopped as they took in his state. Dave was the first to speak. "You were tortured."

"If we are having this conversation, I need a beer," Alex spit out. He glanced at Gibbs who looked like he was going to protest. "I am twenty-one, Gibbs. Remember that please." The point was obvious. _Do not reveal anything about me_. Gibbs hesitated before nodding.

Pete, the medic in the group, shoved a Corona into Alex's hands. "Start with when you were tortured."

They were not going to like the answer. "I was kidnapped six months ago from our barracks in Iraq. You were all drugged. No, I cannot tell you why I was targeted, but it was a... family matter, I guess. Anyway They tortured me for about three months." He fell silent, refusing to lead the conversation.

Ryan was next. "Tell us about the Scorpion."

Alex steadfastly avoided looking at his chest at the mention of the brand. "Scorpia wanted to make sure I knew I was theirs. It was also a way to try and prevent me from getting rescued. The intelligence world sees this version of a scorpion automatic grounds for shoot on sight orders. I was given it by a doctor that works in St. Dominic's, a hospital in Britain that I go to. They kidnapped him to increase my mental torture by having the man in charge of my health help destroy it. That was the second week of my torture I think."

"The fresh cuts you have. They can't be more than two weeks old."

"I will turn this one over to Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs glared. "He got involved in a case we were working and he was kidnapped as a result of it. He escaped within two hours."

"Not a full answer. Porter! Finish it."

"He cut me with a knife for a little under an hour. He had training on the human body, because none of the injuries were serious."

The soldiers nodded, before one of them pointed to his neck.

Alex winced. "Prolonged electrocution directly targeting the nerve cluster in my neck. It was my punishment for escape attempts, which unfortunately meant electrocution was on the schedule very frequently, only surpassed by water boarding, which, by the way, you can't ask about, as there is no marks."

"Jesus Christ!" Darren gasped, and Alex grinned for the first time.

"Ha! And there's my out! Thank you Darren!" He took a large swig out of his beer and grabbed his shirt out of Ryan's limp grasp.

They all looked livid, and were glaring dangerously at Darren, who was covering his mouth comically.

"My turn," Alex said with a cruel smirk. He gave Darren a searching look, before he decided. "Darren, I am sure there is a primary school around here somewhere that would love to see a real SEAL..."

"NO!" Darren yelled in horror. "Please Alex! Please! I released you from your torment. Don't send me there!"

Alex cackled maliciously as he pulled his shirt over his head, instantly hiding his scarred body. "Oh no, Darren. You are just as responsible for this. This is why I didn't want to come to this, but I'd rather not get you guys shot. Think of this as a way to prepare for a family with Emily."

"We broke up about a month after I got back. I'm dating Selena now."

"The Air Force pilot that spent three hours yelling at me for taking up five minutes of her time?"

Darren grinned. "Yep."

"I hate that chick. She hit me in the balls after I told her I didn't fancy planes."

Darren got a dreamy look in his eyes. "Yeah. She's a fiery one, alright."

The entire room burst into laughter, excepting Gibbs who just gave a small smile. Then Pete sobered. "Alex, I don't care that the game is over. You were tortured for three months by terrorists. I don't care if it's classified. Your personal missions are declassified to us, as you know."

Alex didn't answer for a few moments. "That isn't quite true, Pete. This doesn't fall under the US government's jurisdiction, and therefore not declass- not allowed to be shared anyway. This stemmed from well before I joined the SEALs. Reading you in would put me at a lot more danger. Too many OSA's floating around with my name on it will draw too much attention. Just drop it."

"OSA... What's that? I think I've heard of it before." Ryan never paid attention in seminars, so he didn't know.

"British Official Secrets Act. It's not used except for high profile secret service cases. If Alex is under that, then he's in some deep shit."

Alex snorted. That was an understatement.

**Review or face the consequences (AKA, no updates...) Feel threatened. **

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	16. Chapter 15

**I Do Not own AR or NCIS.**

**Chapter 15**

Alex was pissed. Not angry, but outright furious. Seriously, he had not wanted to come to this thing for a fucking reason, and now his reasons had been realized. He should never have agreed to come to this. He should have just told Dave to fuck off. Now he was sitting out by the pool, brooding.

The others were all talking to one another about their latest tours or missions, but for now they were content to leave Alex alone while they figured out what to make of his scars. It wasn't the first time their youngest team member had revealed something shocking, but this was the first time any of them had seen the results of long term torture in person. They were all hardened SEAL's who had been in a great many gun fights and hostage situations, but they had never lost a team member in the line of duty.

Dave, Andy, Darren, and Ryan were all discussing Alex from their little bubble. Specifically, they were discussing his British ties that were usually so well hidden. They had heard his British accent a total of five times, and each time had been during their training. Each time Alex had spoken in his British accent, he had mentioned the same name: Alex Rider.

Furthermore, each time a trainee or two disappeared within an hour. "Who do you think Alex Rider is?"

Andy shrugged, looking at Dave. "Our Alex was obviously involved with the British intelligence agency from what he's said. If he had anything to do with those eight people's disappearance, it would probably have to do with them. The truth is, I've actually heard the name Alex Rider during that mission I did with the British SAS. He's some kind of legend over there. No one knows anything about him other than that he's helped take down several high profile terrorists. I've even heard he's saved the world, but that's just the British being, well, British."

"He looks pretty pissed off," Ryan commented. "He hasn't talked to anyone since he condemned Darren to the elementary school talk. Think we should go talk to him?"

Andy shook his head. "I like my head where it is, thank you very much. You've seen what he can do when he's angry. He took down our entire unit in two minutes flat." He shivered at the memory. Very little was as scary as knowing one person could take down an entire team of SEALs with no difficulty. "The brat didn't even injure anyone, yet we were all out for the count."

"As you will will be again if you keep talking about me," Alex threatened from behind him. "Ryan, where can I get another beer?"

"You never have more than one," Dave stared at Alex. "Even when we were all trying to get you hammered, you wouldn't have more than one."

"I'm celebrating," came the dry response. "No potshots at my head in over a week."

"Hey guys! Alex is on the news."

"On second thought, anyone got any vodka?" Alex asked no one in particular as the others all moved into the community living room.

**Short chapter, but I actually rather like this one. Short, but a lot less rushed than the last chapter, and very much screwing with Alex. What shall I put on the news?Review or I'll talk to my friend, Dr. Three, and see if he can pay all of you (except those who review) a visit. **


	17. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the Delay. Just to review, Alex is on TV and he wants a drink. **

"Sixteen year old Alex John Rider has just been outed as a British spy, acting on behalf of the British government to infiltrate the American Armed Forces. Many of you likely remember the tragic death of Damian Cray, thought until now to be an accident. We have here a video clip of the teenaged spy pushing him out of a plane-"

Alex lunged for the TV, to turn it off, but three of the soldiers tackled him to the ground, pinning him instantly so he couldn't even struggle. They watched the video clip and saw Alex's fight with Damian Cray, although it excluded the dying assassin and the death threats against Alex, Sabina, and the rest of the world.

"No! This is my life! I'm going to kill them! They ruined my life!"

Gibbs was watching the television carefully. "Who ruined your life?"

"MI6," Alex snarled. "They got my parents, my uncle, and Jack killed. They blackmailed me, and now my last shot at a normal life is gone! Your government had better say something on my behalf."

Gibbs watched as the Alex on the screen shot his identical twin between the eyes. "You've killed in cold blood."

"He blew up my school and my guardian and then tried to pin a war between my government and yours on my head. Now let me go! I need to get out of here before-" Alex broke off as a clip played from the security cameras in Brookland. It showed him being tortured by Three. Alex felt the rug ripped out from under him as he realized the entire world was seeing it. Seeing Three again was worse than seeing what had happened to him though.

"Gibbs, you need to get me out of here right now. We'll have snipers here soon. All bets are off now that I'm revealed. We need to go. And get off my Ryan! You're going to reopen one of my injuries or damage my leg!"

Ryan let Alex up and the sixteen year old staggered to his feet.

A second later the worst happened. A bullet broke through the glass and slammed into Alex. He crumpled instantly, his body going limp. Gibbs immediately whipped out his phone and dialed 911. He looked up to see Pete, the medic taking the boy's pulse. His face was ashen.

"There's no pulse."

Gibbs closed his eyes. "The ambulance will be here in two minutes. Give him CPR while I put pressure on the wound. Make sure the paramedics have proper identification. I have a feeling that you guys are going to need to help me guard the kid if- when he gets out of surgery."

ARNCIS ARNCIS

It had been twenty-nine hours since Alex had entered the OR, and the doctors were shocked that he was hanging on at all. The bullet had entered between his heart and his collar bone, directly above the scar from Alex's first near assassination. His left hung had collapsed, his heart had stopped no less than six times, and he had lost more blood than was technically possible to survive without.

There had been several different US government agencies through the hospital, inquiring after the boy. None of them asked if he was going to make it, but rather when they could visit him. When Ziva asked one of them why that was, they would shrug and mumble something about being unable to die.

Gibbs was in the waiting room, watching the news with disgust. The US government was speaking on Alex's behalf, telling the boy's secrets to the world and telling the world about what MI6 had done. The part that disgusted him was that the United States made it seem like they were innocent in the entire charade. He realized that Alex would be in danger for the rest of his life and peace would be nonexistent for the boy.

He looked up as a familiar face walked in. "How's the brat?"

"Hello to you Fornel. Alex is still in surgery. Everyone's sure he'll pull through, but I'm not. They didn't see the damage."

"I don't think you realize what this kid can survive, Gibbs. He always survives- it's his trademark."

"He's a child, Fornel. A sixteen year old boy with more scars than most veterans have. He's got two bullet wounds, both within two inches of his heart. He should be dead."

"But he's not, Gibbs. Not yet. He's still alive and kicking despite everything. Anyone else would have given up, but that boy wants to live."

Another person walked in. "How's Alex?"

"Director Brynn," Gibbs inclined his head in greeting. "He's still in surgery."

"If he makes it, I need to find somewhere for the boy. He cannot be allowed to go back to Britain, especially since Alan Blunt is on the run. I need him hidden, and with his face all over the news, that's just about impossible."

"The kid needs more than that. He needs a sense of normality and structure added to his life. He needs someone to help him sort through this crap if he makes it."

Brynn looked at him appraisingly. "You sure seem sure you know what the boy needs. Why is that?"

"He has a lot in common with Ziva from what I've seen, he's just more damaged by it. He has never had boundaries established on his job, has he?"

"No," Brynn agreed. "We sent him to do a job using any methods necessary. They only boundary was that he wasn't given a gun until he was working with our military."

A few of the SEAL's walked into the room, looking exhausted. "Any updates on the kid?" They were refusing to use his name after he had lied to them about his life.

Gibbs was getting irritated with the repetition of the same question over and over again. "The next person who asks me that is going to spend the night in a holding cell."

"He's still in surgery," Fornel told the SEAL's. "Don't mind him. He gets attached to kids, and even if Alex isn't one mentally, Gibbs still associates him with one."

Thirty minutes later saw Fornel and Brynn gone and Gibbs and the SEAL's dozing in the chairs.

"Family of Alex Porter? Why am I even asking anymore? Agent Gibbs, wake up."

Gibbs woke immediately. "Doctor?"

"Alex has been moved to a private room in ICU. He's not stable yet, but we cannot sedate him currently. Since you are currently listed as his emergency contact, I assume he trusts you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, we'd best hope he does, because if his pain medications fade as quickly as the sedatives, you're going to need to keep him calm. Follow me."

"I need to post guards on his room."

"Then do so quickly. I don't want to see the boy died after everything he's been through- Yes, I do who I was operating on. The boy's been all over the news for the past thirty-six hours, and I've only been operating for the last six. Now get your people together and get up to ICU, room four."

Gibbs woke up the sleeping SEAL's. "You guys up for guard duty? Because Alex is out of surgery. They're worried the pain medication will wear off."

"Alex won't take pain meds," Pete told the NCIS agent. "He panics when he's on them. But yeah, we're good for guard duty. Just make sure the room hasn't got any windows. We'll take care of any unwanted visitors."

"Good. Follow me. And wash your hands before you enter the ICU."

The soldiers nodded and followed Gibbs and the surgeon. They entered ICU quietly, as per protocol. When they got to the room though, the surgeon looked alarmed and angry. "Who are you? You are not authorized to work with this patient."

**There it is. It is unedited, but I felt really bad for not posting. Kudos to PlatinumOwl for the vodka review. It was awesome! tell me what you think. I'm getting close to the end. **


	18. Chapter 17

**I do not own anything that I did not make up. Only my specific plot points. **

"I'm here to kill him." The man injected something into one of Alex's IV's, and Gibbs surged forward, yanking the IV out of Alex's arm. The soldiers surged into the room and attacked the man, trying to maneuver the man away from Alex's bedside. The man, by contrast, was working his hardest to do as much damage as possible.

Alex's eyes snapped open. His eyes traveled to the man before they widened. He tried to say something , but just ended up choking slightly on the tube down his throat. He carefully made eye contact with Gibbs, who was watching him with concern as the the SEAL's finally managed to subdue the fake nurse.

Alex looked meaningfully at his hand, before he started tappping out a message. J-W-A-L-K-E-R-X-C-I-A-S-C-O-R-P-I-A.

"Ex CIA Scorpia agent? Blink twice for yes."

Alex blinked twice. T-U-B-E-G-O-N-E.

"You need it kid. Your lung collapsed. It's not coming out anytime soon I don't think."

Anger blazed in Alex's eyes. He was staring at Walker with loathing. N-E-E-D-L-E-A-V-E. D-A-N-G-E-R.

"Can you repeat that? I got the danger part, but I missed the first part."

"He said he needs to leave," Pete said, not looking at Alex. "I can tell you now, he'll be in here for a long time. The trick is going to be stabilizing him again."

It was only then that both the patient and the agent realized that the surgeon was desperately trying to right the various pieces of equipment that had been knocked awry during the fight. Alex glared at the various machines, hating the entire situation. He hated hospitals bitterly. Every time he was in one for a major injury he ended up being attacked. It had been like that ever since he left Scorpia. Already, that sentiment had come true, with Walker coming in to try and take my life. It was rather irritating.

ARNCISARNCIS

Three days had passed since the incident, and Alex was rarely awake for more than an hour at a time. Yesterday, the tube that went down his throat had been removed, and despite how painful breathing was, he was relieved to be able to speak. Gibbs was nearly always there, along with four or five SEALs who were in charge of keeping out threats. Gibbs had joked that at the rate attacks were coming in, the entire organization would be behind bars.

Alex, for his part, had not smiled. Instead, he asked Gibbs if he had any experience with Scorpia. He went on to explain just how far spread the organization was and the damage it had wreaked on the world. "I have been attacked more times than you can imagine, Gibbs. I've lost track of the number of attempts on my life.

Gibbs' phone buzzed. "Gibbs. You identified him? Do you have a location? Alright, thanks. I'll sent McGee and Dinozzo." Gibbs flipped the phone closed. "Abby found our murderer and kidnapper. You were partially right. He was ex-military and had had a medical degree. He did, however, do a tour in Iraq when he was nineteen before he was discharged for PTSD after he watched one of his team members take a bullet to the stomach."

"This is the guy who was keeping me hostage in a bank of some sort, right? Where I lost my earring?"

"Your earring?" Gibbs questioned.

Alex winced. "Stupid pain medications always make me say things. Yes, my earring is what I used to blow up that damn vault. I really wish I could get a new one, but since SO and I aren't on speaking terms, I doubt further contact would be beneficial. I still need to get Blunt arrested for my parents' murder. I've got the files, but I need to give them directly to Brynn and/or the Prime Minister."

One of the SEALs, Dave by coincidence, snorted. "Even with everything on the news, I doubt those people will talk to you."

"I could dial up your president if you would like?" Alex said innocently.

"Yeah right."

"Gibbs, you got my phone?"

"Here."  
>"Call owner of Air Force One. Priority level four."<p>

The phone rang. "Agent Rider?"

"Mr. President, how are you today?"

"A hell of a lot better than you, from what I've heard. Glad you're alive."

"What can I say, I'm like a cockroach. I'm impossible to kill, luckily for your CIA. They need new training. How many times have they marked me as a threat?"

"You are a threat. I'd say the fact that they identified that means they're doing well."

Alex tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Yeah, but still, I don't like water and towels mixed together."

"Look, I already apologized for that. I'm sorry about what happened a few days ago. That was cruel of the media, and completely false. I am sure you know I released a statement."

Alex's eyes widened. "No, I had no idea. Thank you, Mr. President."

"British Military Intelligence is being torn apart by the media now that the real facts have been released. Britain's in complete uproar over the situation. Honestly, only you could so effectively destroy the reputation of all the intelligence agencies. CIA is running around trying to salvage the situation and withdraw agents that were shown in those clips. You are a real piece of work and a PR nightmare." He stopped talking, obviously waiting for a reply. "Rider?"

Gibbs snorted lightly. "The boy fell asleep. He's still very weak."

The president grumbled something about annoying teenagers. "Only Rider would fall asleep while talking to the president. Goodbye, and take care of the brat. If he dies, you are going to have problems."

The line went dead, and Gibbs stared at the phone. "This kid is too strange."

The fire alarm went off.

**I apologize for not updating in forever, but the good news is next week I can post the next chapter, and after that, I think the epilogue...**


	19. Chapter 18

**Let's have some reviews people. It's the highlight of my day.**

**Chapter 18**

Alex bolted upright, nearly pulling out his IV. "What's going on?"

None of the soldiers moved. "Not a big deal, Alex. Just one of your enemies trying to empty out the hospital again. Go back to sleep."

"With the alarm blaring?" He rubbed his chest carefully.

"You've slept through it every other time."

"I was half dead."

"You're still half dead. Now lean back," Dinozzo ordered. "If you hurt yourself it's on my head. Gibbs will kill me." He pushed Alex back gently.

Alex was listening to the sounds of people being evacuated. They were yelling out orders, but Alex's condition meant that moving him was not an option regardless of the situation, so the group sat quietly in Alex's room trying to ignore the horrifically loud fire alarm. Alex was wincing with each blare of the alarm, and the SEALs around were giving him pitying looks.

Alex hated looks like that. "Stop that. It's just a headache." Alex watched as a man slid into the doorway before being rushed by the SEAL's. "Wait!" Alex yelled.

Everyone stopped in surprise.

"Don't attack him. You'll lose and he won't kill me. He'll kill you guys though."

"Hello little Alex."

"Yassan. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I suppose I am. However, as I am not, we can discuss your current predicament. It's the least I can do for John is get you out of this little mess."

Alex tried to pull himself up straighter, but ended up hissing in pain. "John Rider's not who you think he is."

Yassan shrugged. "He trained me, saved my life on numerous occasions, and made sure I had the tools to survive. The least I can do is repay him."

"You're the reason I'm in this mess, Yassan. I wouldn't have gone to Scorpia and gotten myself into this situation if you hadn't sent me."

The soldiers were listening intently.

"I was there the day the exchange was made. I saw Jones give the order to shoot him. I saw him die."

"I've been tortured, Yassan. I've been assassinated, kidnapped, even branded. Actually, this is my fourth assassination I think. None of it would have happened if it hadn't been for you."

"I can grant you safe haven from them, take you away from here. MI6, CIA, ASIS, all of it. I can give you a new life."

"You're talking in front of a NCIS agent and four SEALs, you know."

"I was under the impression that they cared about you and therefore would like you to survive."

"Is going with you the option that allows for that?"

"Yes, Little Alex."

"How do I know you won't turn me over to them?"

Yassan remained impassive. "Because you're still alive and conscious, along with your friends."

"Fair point. Agreed then. Once I can stand on my own again, I'll go with you. You can probably help me recover faster too."

"I shall get you in nine days. Until then, I shall leave you to your pet soldiers."

"We aren't pets!" Peter snapped indignantly.

Alex laughed tiredly. "He just means that you guys deal with protecting spies and I deal with cleaning up any messes you guys make. Do you have any idea how many times I had to go back into enemy territory to clean up the SAS's and the SEAL's messes?"

"You're an odd kid."

"Of course."

Seven days later, Alex disappeared from the hospital during a brief skirmish in the hallway. they searched for him until finally McGee noticed a slip of paper on the bed.

"Gibbs, it's from Alex. It says he's safe. He says that he's going to be safe- safr than he's ever been. He says don't look for him. And he told Dinozzo to 'just ask her already."

Gibbs frowned. "Put out an APB on him."

"On it boss."

**And that's all for this chapter. What did you think?**

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